Percy Jackson and the Iron Queen
by clmzta83
Summary: When Nico shows up at Camp Half-Blood with shocking news, he, Percy and Annabeth set off on a quest to find a missing goddess. Follow their adventures full of twists, turns and surprises as they search for the Iron Queen.
1. My Girlfriend's Mom Nearly Fries Us

**Happy Reading!**

I sat on the beach at Camp Half-Blood, letting the water from the waves lap at my toes. Although it was the middle of winter the water didn't bother me. That's probably what happens when you're the son of the sea god. Don't get me wrong, it was cold out, but here at camp the weather was regulated so it was only mildly chilly. It was a nice change from the icy weather we'd been having back home. I live in New York City with my mom and stepfather Paul. However, right now I was on Christmas break.

The camp was fuller than I'd ever seen it – well, not including the summer of course. More and more demigods, like me, were being found and brought to camp where they were trained. Several of them had decided to stay here year round. I knew Chiron was happy about that; it gave him something to do during the off-season besides play pinochle with Mr. D (that's Dionysus in case you were wondering).

I thought about how my mom had felt about me coming here for the next two weeks. Christmas had already passed and I knew I would be bored sitting at home the remainder of the vacation. Hey, when you're ADHD, two weeks is a long time not to have anything to do. I don't think my mom was that upset about me leaving to come to camp (she'd been through that many times already and had been somewhat cool about it); I think it was more she wasn't too sure about me spending the two weeks here with Annabeth. You see, Annabeth is my girlfriend.

I grinned as my eyes automatically shot to the spot where we had been thrown in the lake where we had shared what I still consider the best underwater kiss ever. We've had a few more since then.

I'll admit it: I'm pretty excited that Annabeth agreed to spend the remainder of Christmas break at camp. She had flown to San Francisco to spend Christmas with her dad and stepmom and, although I see her all the time in New York, I still missed her. Although I most definitely will not be admitting that to her anytime soon. I can hear her now: 'Can't you last a week without falling to pieces without me, Seaweed Brain?' Her teasing would be relentless, but I would take it. Because it's Annabeth.

She had been going to school in New York City this year, some fancy boarding school for brainiacs. Apparently she loved it. Which is great for her, but it takes up a good amount of her time, always studying or staying after class to work on extra credit projects. So between that and her plans to redesign Olympus we didn't get to spend a ton of time together. Well, we do spend time together (pretty much every day) but most times Annabeth drones on about her new designs or her math project that she's excited about while I look at her stupidly and think about how pretty she is. You know, a typical teenage relationship.

We both agreed that spending the two weeks here at camp would be a good break for us. I agreed not to stare at her stupidly and she agreed not to mention her architecture plans. I figured we would get about thirty minutes of quality time together before one of us breaks. In my head I heard a slight groan and saw my best friend roll his eyes. Grover. Stupid empathy link. Since Annabeth and I had started dating he had been making that face quite a bit. Which is ridiculous coming from him, especially considering how goo-goo he is over his girlfriend Juniper. I guess there's something I should explain about both of them: you see, Grover is a satyr and Juniper is his dryad girlfriend. They've been dating for a couple years now and really are cute together. Did I just say that? I could see Grover gagging himself in my head. Get out of my head, G-man!

"Percy!" I heard someone call. I grinned at the familiar voice. My favorite voice, actually. I turned towards the sound and felt my grin grow foolishly bigger. Gods she was beautiful. I don't think I'll ever get over the sight of Annabeth. The way her blond curls bounced slightly over her shoulders as she walked – that is when she didn't have her hair pulled back, which is most of the time actually.

I'd seen beautiful women before: Calypso, Aphrodite (who oddly never looked exactly the same each time I saw her); none of them could hold a candle to Annabeth. I heard a slight rumbling of thunder in the distance. Now, any normal mortal would have brushed that off as a storm coming. Me? I knew better. I said a quick silent apology to Aphrodite for saying Annabeth was more beautiful than she was. Even though I really thought she was.

As she neared I could see Annabeth wore a grey jacket over her orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and jeans. Even from a distance I could see she had on her camp necklace, a bead for each summer she had been here. I fingered mine without thinking. Five beads. Five different summers. Five different adventures. All five I got to share with my best friend.

"I thought we agreed no more stupid staring," Annabeth complained when she reached me. I looked up at her and grinned sheepishly. Darn. She had caught that.

"I thought we said no architecture talk," I said, pointing to the thick book she carried. After a few moments of deciphering, I finally read 'Ancient Greek Revival: Finding Ancient Greece in the Modern World.' Dyslexia makes it a little harder to read things like that. Ancient Greek? No problem! English that I've been speaking for sixteen years? Forget it. I'm not sure how Annabeth manages to read all the books she reads.

"I'm not going to talk about it. I just thought I'd bring it with me in case you were interested," she said, giving me a wide grin. I knew that look. She had just found her next favorite book and was chomping at the bit to tell me about it.

"Well of course I'm interested in it," I said, gritting my teeth as I inwardly groaned. Annabeth laughed and rolled her eyes, probably not believing a word I said.

She sat down next to me. Very close to me. I leaned back on my right arm which was behind her.

"Hi," she said softly. I grinned. Her grey eyes were the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. They reminded me of two silver moons.

"Hi," I replied. I leaned closer to her and kissed her. That's when she surprised me. I felt her toss her book aside (for those of you who knew my girlfriend that was definitely a no-no in her book; no pun intended) and wrap her arms around my neck, nearly knocking me off balance. I steadied myself and put my hand on her waist. I was just about to pull her closer to me when a sharp crack of thunder sounded and a bolt of lightening hit the ground a few yards from us. Annabeth and I jumped apart.

"Mother!" she cried angrily, her cheeks turning a cute shade of red. Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time that had happened to us.

Athena finally approved of me but she was still pretty wary of me getting too close to her daughter. A second crack of thunder sounded followed by a wave crashing in the distance. I snickered quietly.

"Thanks Dad," I muttered. My dad, Poseidon, and Athena weren't exactly on friendly terms. I'm sure trying to electrocute his favorite son didn't exactly do anything to warm himself up to my girlfriend's mom either.

Once we had both gotten over our shock from our parents we scooted closer again, this time making sure to keep a safe distance from each other.

"So tell me what your book's about," I said. I caught a happy gleam in Annabeth's eyes as she grabbed her book and opened it.

"I found this the other day. What do you think of this for Olympus? I thought maybe if we did something like this and then added a few columns and… Percy? Percy! Are you even paying attention?" Annabeth snapped her fingers in front of my eyes. I wasn't paying attention. She had lost me at 'I found this the other day.'

"Sorry, yes, columns," I stammered, blushing slightly from the stern look she was giving me; she looked just like her mother when she did that.

"Percy! Annabeth!" I heard Grover call behind us. Thank the gods! I thought. We both turned towards Grover and saw him hurrying towards us, an upset look on his face. Annabeth and I exchanged uh-oh looks and pushed ourselves from the ground, brushing the sand off.

"What's up?" I asked when Grover reached us.

"Chiron… needs… see you… house," Grover said, huffing and out of breath.

"Is something wrong?" Annabeth asked as we began walking towards the Big House.

"I'm not really sure what's wrong. Nico showed up this morning and talked to Chiron and Mr. D for a long time. He seemed pretty shaken up," Grover answered.

Nico, while he lived here at camp most of the year, liked to spend the occasional month or so in the Underworld with his father Hades. Although don't ask me why; I've been there and it's most definitely not the ideal vacation spot. I think during the war Nico had earned a ton of respect from his dad and they had grown to like each other. I doubted they'd ever be seen having a father-son day at the ball field or playing catch in the backyard, but I'm sure they found their own creepy Underworld things to do together.

When we reached the Big House we saw Mr. D sitting by the fire. He was wearing his normal leopard print shirt with a pair of purple running pants and tennis shoes. I know you're probably thinking what would make a person dress like that. I wish I could tell you but I'm pretty sure being the god of wine helps. Mr. D seemed to sense my thoughts because he was staring straight at me, his eyes flaring purple.

"Well, well, well. Perry Jensen. Didn't want to see you here," he said.

"Don't you mean expect to see him here, sir?" Grover asked innocently. Mr. D shrugged.

"No," he said simply. Ignoring Mr. D (which is not the brightest thing to do to a god, but there were more important matters at hand) I turned to Chiron who had wheeled into the room. I wasn't sure why he was in his wheelchair (Chiron's really a centaur but somehow magically can fit into a wheelchair); maybe because it was cold. He had a thick looking afghan over his lap. "Percy! Annabeth! Welcome back," he said with forced joviality.

"Thanks, Chiron," Annabeth said, giving him a quick hug. "Grover said something was wrong. Where's Nico?" As if on cue Nico walked into the room. He was taller than the last time I saw him, his black hair a little longer and shaggier. He looked pale and worn too, as if he hadn't been sleeping well. Although I guess staying in the Underworld could do that to you.

"Hey, Nico. Long time no see," I said, shaking the younger boy's hand.

"Hey, Percy. Sorry I haven't come to visit more often. I've been busy helping my father," he said solemnly.

"What's going on?" I asked, glancing between him and Chiron.

"Nico?" Chiron asked. I turned back to him.

"Dad's been a wreck. Things have gotten really bad in the Underworld. Hold ups, applications not being processed, the complaints box overflowing…"

"Wait, the Underworld has a complaints box?" I asked. I could only imagine what some of the complaints would say. 'I was hoping for Elysium; why am I in Asphodel Fields? Were my good deeds not good enough?' 'That three-headed dog is barking too loud.' 'It's so dark here. Can't we spruce up the place with a little more color?' Annabeth elbowed me in the side, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Why is Hades letting all that happen? What's wrong with him?" she asked concernedly. Nico sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He looked like he could cry any moment.

"My stepmother, Persephone… she's gone."

**AN #2: Thoughts? Right track? Complete crap? I'd love to hear your thoughts! **


	2. I Eat Dinner with a Goddess

Grover, Annabeth and I all started talking at once. We probably sounded like a bunch of chickens clucking rather than three rational beings that had saved the world on at least several occasions. Nico and Chrion tried to jump in and explain but we kept arguing and asking questions. Mr. D's yell of frustration finally quieted us down. Well, more like scared us senseless.

"Gods, you three would drive a god insane! I would know!" he yelled at us. Mr. D had experience in madness. He pushed himself from his chair and left the room, grumbling something about demigods that I won't repeat.

"Nico, how is that possible? Persephone isn't allowed to leave the Underworld except for in the spring when she goes to visit her mother," Annabeth asked. Always the logical one. Nico shrugged and looked helpless.

"I don't know. That's what I thought but she's gone. She and Dad had a fight a few weeks ago and he thought maybe she was just somewhere sulking so he didn't pay any attention to her being gone. But then after a while he started getting worried. We turned the place upside down; no Persephone. I was finally able to convince him to go to Olympus and see if he could find out anything. We went there but he sent me back to the Underworld to keep an eye on things. I figured maybe I should make a pit stop here and let you guys know," Nico explained.

"But that still doesn't make any sense. How can she just leave the Underworld?" Annabeth asked. I could tell she was getting frustrated. She liked things to be logical and this was probably driving her insane.

"Well, she is the Queen of the Underworld. Hades leaves. Hermes leaves. Even she leaves, although not until the spring during her allotted time. Maybe she decided to take an early vacation," I suggested hoping to calm her down.

"No, she can't do that. She's bound to the Underworld except for her allotted time above," Chiron said calmly. Nico cleared his throat and when I looked at him I saw he was scuffling his foot.

"I left out a small detail," he sheepishly admitted.

"What are you saying?" Chiron asked.

"Well, when I was searching for her I found a note laying on a dinner table." Nico reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of crumpled paper. He handed it to Chiron who read,

_"To whoever finds this letter: _

_Do not come searching for the Queen of the Underworld. She is in better hands now and I would hate to risk her life should you come searching. Hope you are well. _

_Sincerely yours, _

_The Iron Queen."_

"The Iron Queen? Who's that?" I asked Nico. He shook his head and shrugged.

"Why didn't you tell your father about this?" Chiron asked. Nico's face crumbled.

"I didn't want to make him any madder and risk starting a war with this Iron Queen because she took Persephone. You know how his temper is and I thought maybe if I came here and told you about it I could go on a quest to search for Persephone," he admitted.

Chiron scratched his chin thoughtfully. I could almost see the wheels spinning in his head as he considered what Nico had said. I glanced at Annabeth and was pretty sure her mind cogs were spinning too. Grover was staring hungrily at the Diet Coke can Mr. D had left on the end table. No surprise there, I thought.

"Perhaps a quest is needed to search for Persephone, but I think we need to tell the gods about this note. I think they would be most interested in hearing of her abduction if she truly was taken. Fortunately, the Oracle has come to camp; she arrived last night and is in the attic now," Chiron said, his eyes shooting towards the ceiling as if he could see the attic through it.

I gulped nervously and looked at Annabeth. Her face hadn't changed much but her eyes had narrowed a little bit. Hearing that the Oracle was at camp probably wasn't the happiest news she had heard today. The Oracle is actually our – well, my – friend Rachel.

At one time Rachel had a crush on me (the jury's still out on what my feelings towards her were) but when she accepted the Oracle she dumped me. Luckily I didn't take it too hard. I couldn't understand why she was in the attic though. The former Oracle lived up there, but she was a mummy who didn't move much. Or at all, unless you count that one time she graced us with her presence and nearly scared the pants off half the camp.

"You don't mean I have to go up there, do you?" Nico asked nervously.

"Well who else would go up there?" Annabeth asked. "It's your quest." Nico shook his head and waved his hands in front of him.

"It's creepy up there." Annabeth rolled her eyes. I think we all rolled our eyes actually, including Chiron.

"Nico, in case you forgot, you're the son of Hades. You sometimes live in the Underworld. I don't think you get much creepier than that," I pointed out.

"For time's sake, why don't you three all go up there?" Chiron suggested. I could tell his patience was running thin.

"What about Grover?" I asked. I didn't want him left out of the quest.

"I'm with Nico on this one. It's way too creepy up there. Also, I've got a lot of traveling to do. Winter is our least busy season and I've still got to try to convince the other nature spirits to take up the work of Pan," he explained after swallowing a piece of the Diet Coke can.

Annabeth, Nico and I slowly walked up the stairs to the attic. I remembered the first time I had ever come up here. It still gave me chills thinking about the first time I had seen the previous Oracle. Even though I'd never admit it to Annabeth, I was glad Rachel was now the Oracle. She was much easier to look at. Of course, anything's much easier to look at than a mummified hippie.

We pushed open the door to the attic and walked in. The room hadn't changed much since I last came in here. Souvenirs from various quests still littered the room. A knife caught my eye. I picked it up and read the tag.

_'Celestial bronze knife that defeated Kronos as used by Luke Castellan. Formerly belonging to Annabeth Chase.'_

I quickly put it down, worried that Annabeth might see it. I didn't want her upset. Even though she had told me that she didn't feel anything other than brotherly love for Luke, I knew it still bothered her that he was gone. She had refused to touch the knife after he had used it on himself to defeat Kronos. I wasn't sure what had happened to the knife. I guess now I know.

Turning back to Annabeth and Nico I saw that they were frozen, shocked looks on their faces. I followed their gaze and nearly yelped. Sitting on a stool in front of the window was a girl wearing a long flowing shirt, the kind hippies might have worn. Her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail so I could see that she had on several necklaces. It was Rachel; I was sure of it. But she didn't move.

"You don't think she's… you know… like the other Oracle," Annabeth whispered. I felt her hand move into mine. I gave it a tight squeeze.

_"If it's the Oracle you seek to find, she needs some quiet, if you don't mind," _the girl said.

"Huh?" I quietly said. It probably sounded more like a confused grunt.

"Does she normally make weird prophecies like that?" Nico whispered. The girl turned around on the stool and rolled her eyes before grinning at us. Yep, it was Rachel.

"Hi guys, long time no see!" she said cheerfully as she hopped off the stool.

"What were you doing?" Annabeth asked irritably. She found Rachel's quirks ridiculous. The first time they had met Rachel had been painted gold doing some statue moves. Rachel's pretty artsy so it didn't surprise me that much.

"I felt some pull to come to camp the other day and thought I'd come up here to look around, see what kind of neat stuff was up here. Then I thought I'd see how the previous Oracle felt, sitting motionless in front of the window. I've been sitting here for probably an hour. It was pretty uncomfortable," she explained. She started to stretch her arms, swinging them across her chest. "So what brings you three up here?" I nudged Nico.

"Tell her." Nico hesitantly stepped forward.

"We, um, need a quest," he asked nervously. Rachel smiled at him. I'm sure that just made Nico more nervous.

"Well ask a question little hero," she said. Nico looked back helplessly at us. Annabeth waved him forward as if she were encouraging him to ask.

"We need to find Persephone. Where, um, do we… look?" Nico asked. Rachel closed her eyes. We waited patiently for the prophecy to come. I'd seen her give a prophecy before. Her eyes turned green – well, glowed green actually – and she spoke in this voice that wasn't quite her voice. Her eyes popped open and I jumped. Hey, it's kind of disturbing looking. She scrunched her eyebrows together and let out a "Huh."

"That's funny," she said. "Nothing's coming." We all let out sighs of disappointments as if we had all been holding our breath together. Usually when a prophecy was given it just came automatically.

"Maybe it'll come later. They're unpredictable sometimes," Rachel said, shrugging her shoulders.

"What do we do now?" Nico asked, a scowl forming on his face.

"Let's go get some hot chocolate," Rachel suggested. She took two steps towards the attic door before suddenly crumpling to the floor.

"Rachel!" I yelled. Nico and I hurried towards her and knelt beside her.

"Whoa," she said, putting her hand to her head. "Head rush." We helped her up and held on to her in case she fell again.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know. One minute I was fine and the next… floor!"

"Odd," Annabeth said. She looked concerned. Rachel suddenly let out a small whimper and closed her eyes. When they opened they were glowing green. Great, the prophecy was finally here.

_For those who seek the missing queen,_

_you must first pay tribute to the city that gleams. _

_Beware the one who wants to maim,_

_and find the lost soul whom the Iron Queen claims._

Rachel slumped forward when she finished, her eyes returning to their normal color.

"Did I give it?" she asked hopefully. Annabeth, Nico and I exchanged looks.

"Yeah, you gave it alright," I said as I helped her to stand.

Later that evening during dinner I played with my bowl of stew that sat in front of me. Maybe it was childish but who cares? No one else was sitting at my table to see me. Each of the different cabins had their own table where the campers sat with their half-siblings. Being the son of one of the Big Three I was alone; I guessed my dad, Zeus and Hades had decided to keep up their agreement after all.

I looked around the dining pavilion. Annabeth sat with a few of her siblings who had come back (or never left) at the Athena table and Nico sat at the newly built Hades table. There were several new tables with a few kids at them. Kids of lesser gods that had finally been recognized and came to camp.

"Are you not enjoying your dinner?" I looked up and saw a little girl sitting across from me.

"Lady Hestia," I said, recognizing her.

"Hi, Percy. You have an important quest coming up," she said. I nodded, unsure how to answer that question. What was I supposed to say? 'We do Lady Hestia. Care to come along? Any words of wisdom you'd like to share?' Her face broke into a grin.

"Do you know what I love most about my job of keeping the hearth? It gives people something warm to come home to. When that fire goes out, when it's extinguished, people don't want to return to their home. They don't want to return to coldness," she said, pulling my bowl of stew away from me and taking a small bite. "This is good. You should eat." She pushed it back to me and stood.

"Don't worry about this quest. You're a true hero." With a wink she skipped back to the hearth where she once again blended into the background. I looked around at the other tables. No one seemed to have noticed the small goddess who had sat at my table.

Without thinking I stood and picked up my bowl. I had already given some to the gods, sacrificed some of my meal to Poseidon, but I scraped out more into the fire.

"For Hestia," I murmured. "Thank you for what you do." The smell of warm stew filled the air around me. I smiled. The air smelled like what I imagined a warm happy home might smell like at the end of the day. It might have been my imagination but I heard a small giggle in the distance.

**AN: Yeah, Hestia doesn't really have a huge role in this story, but she was my favorite (well, besides Apollo) of the gods from the Percy Jackson series and I wanted her to have at least some role in here. Although, looking at her words, she may just play a bigger role than we think! **


	3. Our Parents Save us from Becoming Grapes

After lights out later that evening I lay in my cabin on my bunk, my hands stacked behind my head. So much for mine and Annabeth's quality time alone at camp, I thought. I wasn't bitter, I promise. I just felt that maybe it should be someone else's turn to go save the world. Haven't I had enough quests? I snorted and rolled my eyes at myself. I knew how stupid I must sound thinking that way. I could hear Annabeth now: "What are you thinking, Seaweed Brain?"

Oh, wait a minute. I really did hear her. I sat up quickly in bed but was still alone. Near my feet I felt the bed sink like someone had sat on it.

"Annabeth, take off the hat," I said, feeling around in that general direction.

"Hey, watch it!" I heard her cry. I felt a slap on my hand. Whoops. Annabeth pulled off her baseball cap and she became visible. Her cap was one of her most prized possessions and had definitely come in handy in our past adventures. It also made sneaking around camp a little easier.

"What are you doing here? You know you're not supposed to be in my cabin after lights out," I scolded teasingly. She blushed slightly and fiddled with the brim of her cap before looking at me with a playful gleam in her eye.

"I couldn't sleep and wanted to come see you," she admitted.

"Well, okay, great," I said. Okay, I admit it. I was kind of excited Annabeth was in my cabin and sitting on the foot of the bed. You know, that kind of excited where you want to run away screaming because you're so scared you'll make a mistake but the idea of running away makes you want to throw up? Yeah, that's how excited I was.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" I asked. I wanted to hold her hand or something suave like that but all I seemed to be able to do was pick at the covers on my bed. Fortunately that's all Annabeth seemed to be able to do as well. She shrugged.

"Nerves I guess. I'm normally like this before a quest."

"Really? You've never come here before," I pointed out. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Well, duh. We were never dating before," she replied.

"Oh, yeah."

"I just can't help but wonder why someone would kidnap Persephone. Of all the goddesses to kidnap she seems like the least likely target," Annabeth explained.

"Unless someone wanted to start a war with Hades," I said. She was quiet.

"I didn't think of that," she whispered. I furrowed my brow. Annabeth not thinking of every possibility was strange for her. Usually she was the one who pointed out stuff to me, not the other way around. All of the children of Athena were smart – I'm talking genius smart – and were typically the ones who came up with all the camp's best battle strategies and plans. Annabeth looked up at me; her face looked worried.

"Can I... can I sit next to you?" she asked nervously. I swallowed hard. What do you say to that? 'Sorry, no, I don't want you, my incredibly beautiful girlfriend, to sit next to me on the bed because I'm even more nervous than you.' I did what any logical sixteen year old guy would do.

"Sure, of course." I scooted to the side of my bunk and pushed back the covers. I felt a draft of cool air come in under them making the hairs on my legs stand up. Gods, had Annabeth been sitting in the cold all this time? What kind of boyfriend was I?

She came to the side of the bed and sat next to me, slipping her legs under the covers. Once we were both tucked in I put my arm around her shoulders and she laid her head on mine. It felt nice to be like this. This was how I had hoped our two weeks here would have gone. Just me and her, together, the real world not butting in. I wondered if that would actually ever happen. Do any demigods get a break? Annabeth interrupted my thoughts with a sigh.

"Why didn't I think about the possibility of someone wanting to start a war?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe you were thinking about something else," I offered.

"Thinking of you," she said grudgingly. I looked down at her.

"And that's a bad thing?" I felt her shrug. I definitely did not like where this was going.

"I don't know. Maybe not but what if I start missing more things like that when we're on the quest?"

"Wait a minute. Are you saying you don't want to go?" I asked alarmed. Annabeth lifted her head from my shoulder and looked at me with those large grey eyes. I was a goner.

"Of course I'm not. Nico and you wouldn't last two days without me," she started.

"Gee thanks," I muttered. Annabeth gave me a small smile and wound her arms around my neck, pulling herself closer to me until she was practically sitting on my lap. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.

"That's not what I meant Percy. You and I have been together on so many adventures; neither of us has had a quest without the other," she started.

"What about when you were kidnapped and I came and rescued you?" I interrupted. Annabeth had been taken after this manticore attacked us and then tricked by Luke to hold up the sky. You know, that slime-ball Atlas' job. She shook her head.

"Even though I wasn't physically with you, I prayed to my mom almost every minute to watch over you and help you so that I could somehow be connected to you. When I was holding the sky and after Artemis took my spot, I thought about you. You were what gave me hope," she paused and kissed me quickly. "My point is neither of us would have succeeded without the other. You and I are meant to be together, whether we're on a quest or..." she paused again. Her face seemed to turn shy, another rare thing for Annabeth.

"Or what?" I whispered.

"Or sitting together in your bed." We didn't do much talking after that.

* * *

I woke the next morning to a pair of blazing purple flames staring down at me. I nearly jumped out of my bed. Mr. D was standing over me wearing a set of leopard print pajamas with a purple robe over them. He looked madder than I'd ever seen him. It was at that moment I feared for my life more than I ever have.

"Do you have any idea," he began, his voice dangerously calm, "exactly what it's like to be woken up in the middle of the night by an Iris message from an angry god?" I shook my head, too scared to speak. I was certain I was about to become a large bunch of grapes and then smashed by Mr. D dancing on me.

"I was woken up by three!" The entire cabin shook as he yelled. He took a deep breath before continuing. "I will give you exactly three seconds to meet me outside."

When he was gone I scrambled from my bed and grabbed my jacket that lay on the floor. Slipping my feet into my tennis shoes I ran out of the cabin. Luckily my pajama pants had pockets; I felt the weight of my pen in them as I got outside. My pen is actually a sword. All I have to do is uncap the pen and my sword Riptide appears. No matter where I leave it, it usually ends up in my pocket. One of its finer qualities for someone as forgetful as me.

"2.87 seconds. Not bad, but I've seen better," Mr. D commented sarcastically. He turned and started walking back towards the Big House. I saw several other campers peeking out of their cabins. I'm sure Mr. D's yelling woke them up. I tried to avoid eye contact with them as I followed him.

As we passed the Athena cabin I saw several of its residents standing in the door way. They all had matching scowls on their faces, arms crossed over their chests. Somehow I don't think I was going to be welcome into that family anytime soon. I wondered where Annabeth was. Hopefully she was alright. A little before 1:00 am she went back to her cabin, but not before giving me a kiss that sent me to bed with a smile on my face.

"Johannson! Now!" I heard Mr. D yell. Several snickers came from behind me. I felt my face redden as I jogged to catch up with the god. He didn't get my name right (which is nothing new); it must not be that bad.

When we reached the Big House and went into the living room I saw that Nico and Annabeth were already there. They both wore matching fearful expressions as if they too had been woken up like I had. Chiron sat in his wheelchair again. He didn't look too pleased to be up this early. Mr. D pointed to the sofa where Nico and Annabeth sat. I took it to mean 'Sit down and don't say a word' and quickly slunk to the sofa and sat.

"You know, I've never really cared about campers' little trysts or their relationships with their parents, but when I'm woken up by all three of your parents, who are all furious, by the way, I find that I start caring a little more. Oh, not about you three or the rest of the campers here, but about how nice you would look as a bowl full of grapes," he said.

"I think what Mr. D is trying to say is that all three of you have not only broken camp rules but have angered the gods," Chiron said, his voice a touch more gentler than Mr. D's.

"I wasn't trying to say anything of the sort Chiron," Mr. D argued. "I was trying to say that they'd look better as a bowl of grapes. Luckily for them, however, their parents would take exception to that."

"I don't think I understand," Annabeth said timidly. I had to admire her bravery.

"Oh you don't, Miss Annie Bell? Well let me explain to you what your mother yelled at me for an hour about. If you want to flit around with boys that's your business, not mine. Chase boys until your heart is content. I could care less. However your mother, the maiden goddess herself, isn't exactly thrilled that her daughter was seen canoodling with a boy after lights out!" Mr. D yelled. I felt Annabeth flinch.

"Annabeth, Percy, you both know camp rules state that two campers of opposite sex are not allowed to be in cabins alone, especially after lights out. Your parents, both mortal and god, entrust us here to see to the well-being of their children," Chiron explained.

"Nothing happened, Chiron, Mr. D. Annabeth was worried about the quest and we talked about it. I promise," I said, hoping to take some of the blame off of Annabeth and explain what had happened last night. Chiron held up his hands.

"I believe you, trust me. I understand young love, but Annabeth, you know you can't go sneaking into the Poseidon cabin," he said. I struggled not to grin at his expression. Even though his tone was serious I could see laughter in his eyes. Poor Annabeth couldn't even look up though. I took her hand in mine, hoping it would give her a little comfort.

"Hey, no touching!" Mr. D yelled. Annabeth and I quickly pulled our hands away and clasped them in our laps.

"Wait a minute," Nico said. We all turned to him; he had clearly been forgotten. "I didn't sneak into anyone's cabin, I wasn't canoodling – whatever that is – with anyone last night. Why am I here?" Mr. D narrowed his eyes at Nico.

"You're _not_ supposed to be here Nick. Your father threatened to expel me from camp, which wouldn't be such a bad thing if the replacement for my punishment wasn't mowing the lawn in the Asphodel Fields for the next fifty years."

"There's no grass in the Asphodel Fields," Nico said slowly as if he were explaining it to a child. Mr. D's eyes blazed.

"My point is your father is furious that you came to camp instead of returning to the Underworld like you were supposed to. Apparently he's blaming me for luring you to camp with exciting things like archery and canoeing. He's demanded that you come to Olympus at once so he can yell at you himself," Mr. D said. He seemed somewhat satisfied that Hades wanted to yell at Nico.

"Didn't you say all of our parents sent you a message? Did my dad say anything?" I asked. I figured if we were going to Olympus to face some angry gods – or worse, our angry parents – I should know why my dad was angry at me. Mr. D made a face at me. His face turned a shade of pale purple. If gods could blush, I think that could be considered blushing for him.

"Well, your dad did send a message, but it wasn't exactly about you. He was uh, not too thrilled that I was about to turn you into grapes."

**AN: Sorry I didn't get this up sooner; my birthday was this past weekend and I was doing birthday things. Not so sure how this is going... whether it's any good or not. Tell me! Tell me, tell me, tell me! Review, review, review! Okay... I'm done. Have a great day! **


	4. My Family Should Have Its Own Talk show

After breakfast I went back to my cabin to pack. We were supposed to leave soon to travel to New York and then up to Olympus. I wasn't really looking forward to it. I picked up a t-shirt and haphazardly folded it before stuffing it into my duffle bag. It wasn't that I didn't like Olympus; it really was beautiful and they threw great parties there. I just had a bad feeling about going there this time. It would be nice to see my dad again though. I didn't get to see him that often and hadn't seen him since after the war. He was pretty busy these days rebuilding his undersea palace. I wonder how that was going. I heard a knock on the cabin door and turned to see Nico come in.

"You almost packed? It's about time to leave," he said.

"Yeah, just about." I tossed a sweatshirt into my bag and zipped it. You'd think after as many quests as I've been on I would be a packing pro, but for some reason I always wait until the last minute to pack and end up throwing whatever I find on the floor into a bag.

"So what exactly happened with you and Annabeth last night?" Nico asked.

"It's like I said earlier: she came in and we talked about the quest," I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"Did you guys, you know…" Nico said, raising his eyebrows expectedly.

"We kissed obviously, but we… why are you even asking me this? It's none of your business," I said irritably as I walked out of the cabin, Nico close behind me. He shrugged. I forget that he's not the little kid he was when I first met him. I wasn't exactly sure how old he was now, but he seemed to be the age I was when I first came to camp. When I first started liking Annabeth…

"You haven't met a girl, have you?" I asked. I saw his cheeks turn pink. Yep. He met a girl.

"Well, there is this new camper from the Hecate cabin. I don't know her name yet," he admitted.

"Why don't you find out?" I asked. We were near the camp van now, Annabeth standing next to it discussing something with Argus, the camp driver. I saw he kept blinking, the eyes covering his body opening and closing quickly. I was pretty sure Annabeth was confusing him.

"I don't know what to say to her," Nico said. I had forgotten about him. Gods, why couldn't I focus on anything when Annabeth was around? This was going to be a long quest.

"Maybe you should just say hello?" I suggested.

"Oh, that's original," he muttered.

"Well, what were you thinking?" I asked. Nico was silent.

"Hello would work," he finally admitted.

"Hurry up you two!" Annabeth yelled. We both sighed in unison and jogged towards her and the van.

"What took you so long?" she asked when we reached her.

"Percy wasn't packed yet," Nico said as he climbed in the van.

"Little snitch," I muttered under my breath. Annabeth laughed and took my hand in hers.

"No touching!" a loud voice boomed. We both turned towards the voice, our hands dropping to our sides, and saw Mr. D and Chiron walking towards us.

"Do you have everything?" Chiron asked. We both nodded, still a little nervous around Mr. D.

"Wait up!" Rachel was jogging towards us, a large bag in her hand.

"She's not going with us, is she?" Annabeth muttered.

"Glad I caught you before you left. Figured you guys might need this," she said, thrusting the bag into Annabeth's hand. "Nectar, some ambrosia, drachmas and cash, courtesy of Daddy." Rachel's father was loaded. Like millionaire loaded. I didn't particularly like taking Rachel's money but knew what she had given us was probably her weekly allowance. Enough, I'm sure, for us to stay at the Ritz a few nights during our quest.

"Thanks, Rachel. That's really nice of you," Annabeth said sincerely. I was proud of her. Maybe by next summer Annabeth and Rachel could be friends. I glanced between them. The girl who used to like me and the girl I was dating. Nope, they probably wouldn't be friends.

"Be safe. Take care of each other," Rachel said.

"Yes, yes. Can you two hurry up and just go?" Mr. D said crabbily.

"Good luck. Send word if you can," Chiron said. Annabeth and I both said our goodbyes and got into the van where Nico and Argus were waiting.

The ride to New York City was quiet. Nico snored lightly in the seat behind Annabeth and me. She was sitting next to me, her head on my shoulder, as she read her architecture book. I didn't want to disturb her so I looked out the window. Countryside, countryside, cow. That was about it for our ride into the city. Argus was quiet as usual but luckily he played some good music so that helped make the trip seem not as long as it probably was. We were nearly into the city when Annabeth sighed and shut her book.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I have a funny feeling about going to Olympus. I know that's where the prophecy says to start, but what if our parents are really mad at us? What if my mom's right about us getting too close?" she said.

"Wait, when did your mom say we were getting too close?" I asked.

"Well, maybe she didn't say it directly, but the signs have been there. The lightening bolt on the beach, the angry call to Dionysus; what if she's trying to tell me we should slow down?" Annabeth explained. I was quiet as I processed what she had just said. Was she breaking up with me? Her mom had seemed okay with us last time I saw her. What was going on now?

"Percy, say something," she said quietly.

"Are you breaking up with me?" I asked nervously. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"No! No, I don't want that. Oh, I'm making a mess out of this. My head hurts," she said, burying her head in her hands. This was very un-Annabeth-like.

"Hey, it's okay," I said, rubbing my hand over her hair. "We don't have to decide anything now. Let's just focus on the quest and then when we get back we'll enjoy our break, okay?" Annabeth looked up. Her eyes looked kind of red like she could start crying any minute.

"Okay, that sounds like a good idea," she agreed. She leaned forward and pulled out her bag. "I wish we knew where to begin looking." She pulled out a map and opened it; it nearly took up the entire seat.

"Well, we'll probably need to start with Olympus. Then we can see where that leads us," I said. I took the map from her, earning a shocked and confused look from her. I tried to fold the map but it ended up looking like I just wadded it up. Which I partly did. Annabeth stared at me with pursed lips, clearly irritated at my lack of map-folding know-how.

We reached the Empire State Building around mid-afternoon. I should tell you that the entrance to Olympus is at the top of the Empire State Building on the 600th floor. There aren't 600 floors you say? Clearly you're not a demigod. After explaining to the guard who we were and arguing that we knew there was a 600th floor (you would think after all this time he would finally just let us up) we were on the elevator to Olympus. Cheesy music played in the elevator. I made a mental note to talk to Apollo about this. As the god of music surely he could come up with some better music to play in the elevator. The soft ding told us we had reached our destination and the doors slid open.

Olympus is honestly one of the most beautiful places ever. Even though I've been here a few times I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing it. I felt Annabeth's fingers intertwine with mine. I knew she was thinking the same thing. Parts of Olympus had been damaged during the battle with Kronos but even with them the place was still amazing. I gave Annabeth's hand a small squeeze; I knew she was starting to envision all the modifications and designs she had planned for this place.

"Can we go on?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, let's get this over with," Annabeth sighed. She let go of my hand and started walking forward, leading us to the throne room.

As we neared it we could feel the ground slightly shaking. Sounds of shouting filled the air, most of it making me cringe. I could hear snippets of the arguments: "This is all your fault!" "Can't you go one day without looking at a nymph?" "My daughter could have married better!" "You're an idiot!" Needless to say it didn't get any better as we entered the throne room. It looked like one of those talk shows my ex-stepfather Gabe used to watch. You know the kind where everyone fights and the crowd cheers them on or boos at the cheating husband? Yeah, this was the Olympus version of it.

Towards the head of the room Zeus and Hera were fighting. I couldn't quite make out what they were arguing about, but I'm pretty sure Hera was the one who mentioned the nymph. Her arms were flailing wildly and Zeus seemed to be going back and forth between pleading and lecturing.

Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares seemed to be locked in a three-way glare. They were silent, but I knew if I stared at them any longer my face would probably melt away.

Hades and Demeter were squared off, pointing fingers at each other.

"You drove her away! She knew she could do better than you!" Demeter cried angrily, hitting Hades with her stalk of grain. "Maybe if you weren't so smothering and depressed without her, she wouldn't always feel like she has to come be with her mommy!" Hades yelled back. I decided to come back to that one later.

I glanced at Annabeth and saw the color had drained from her face. Following her gaze I saw my dad and her mom. Surrounding them was a pile of rubble, parts of the marble columns that had been blown away. It looked like our parents had done a little more than argue.

Apollo and Hermes seemed to be the only ones not fighting. Apollo was lounging in his chair wearing his sunglasses and holding one of those three sided mirrors people use to tan up to his face, reflecting sunlight on his face. Only problem was, there wasn't any sun; although I guess being the sun god he probably made the sun shine just in that area. Hermes was standing in the corner talking on his cell phone/caduceus. I wondered how George and Martha, the two snakes that lived on it, were doing. The only one of the gods I didn't see, minus Mr. D of course, was Artemis. She was probably out somewhere with her hunters. I figured that was a good thing.

In the center of the room was the hearth, a slim woman kneeling next to it as she quietly tended it. She glanced at me and smiled, giving me a playful eye roll as if to say 'What a great family we have.'

Knowing standing here wasn't getting us anywhere, I cleared my throat, hoping to get the gods attention. Not one of them even glanced at me.

"Louder," Annabeth muttered. I cleared my throat again, this time louder but was still ignored.

"Hey!" Nico shouted. That got their attention. Twelve pairs of eyes turned towards us, most of them angry.

"Hey! It's the heroes!" Apollo said, putting his mirror away. "Welcome back! Wait! I feel a haiku coming on." There were several groans in the room as he stood and cleared his throat.

"Heroes from below  
Journeyed here to see the gods  
I am so awesome."

He must not have remembered he used that last line before. I wasn't going to say anything though.

"That was terrible," Hades said.

"Whatever, man. Whatever," Apollo said, leaning back in his throne and stacking his hands behind his head.

"I believe we should all sit," Zeus said as he moved to his own throne. He looked slightly worse for wear, his normal pin-striped suit jacket unbuttoned and his tie loosened. The other gods grudgingly sat and stared at us. "What brings you here?" Zeus asked. Annabeth pushed me forward.

"Well, um, Lord Zeus, we're on a quest," I began.

"Oh, a quest. How delightful for the great hero Percy Jackson," I heard a gruff sarcastic voice say from my left. I felt a wave of anger wash over me as I turned toward the god who had spoken. Ares, god of war. My hand itched to grab my pen and uncap it. Riptide was begging to be used to shut him...

"Percy," I heard my father say in a soft warning voice. He seemed to sense that my anger had risen.

"Sorry, Father," I murmured before turning back to Zeus. "We're on a quest, Lord Zeus, to help Lord Hades find Persephone."

"Help me? I don't believe I asked for three half-bloods to help me," Hades muttered. He turned to Nico and scowled. "I thought I told you to return to the Underworld while I was here. Instead you went to that camp and decided to go on a quest? You have some explaining to do, son."

"I know, and I'm sorry for not going back to the Underworld, but I had to tell someone about this," Nico said. He dug through his pockets and pulled out the note from the Iron Queen.

"What is that?" Zeus asked.

"I found this when we were searching for Persephone. I think it's a ransom note," Nico explained.

"A ransom note? My daughter's been kidnapped? Oh, I knew this would happen because of you!" Demeter wailed. She threw her stalk of grain at Hades. It hit him on the head, bouncing off of it. If his face hadn't been completely terrifying after it hit him, the whole thing would have been pretty funny.

"Calm down, Demeter. We don't even know what the note says," Athena said, patting the goddess' hand.

"Read it," Hades barked at his son. I could tell Nico was nervous. Who wouldn't be though? It wasn't like getting up to read something in front of the class at school – which was pretty bad anyway, especially if you're like a demigod and have dyslexia. This was about a million times worse. Nico cleared his throat and began to read.

_"To whoever finds this letter: _

_Do not come searching for the Queen of the Underworld. She is in better hands now and I would hate to risk her life should you come searching. Hope you are well. _

_Sincerely yours, _

_The Iron Queen."_

The throne room was silent when Nico finished reading. Apollo slowly lifted his sunglasses. Hermes put down his cell phone/caduceus. The gods and goddesses exchanged shocked looks before doing the most least expected thing of all: they all burst out laughing.

**AN: So... I've decided that until you review more, I'm going to hold Chapter 5 hostage. Just a little friendly note. :-) **


	5. The Iron Queen is a Superhero

Zeus wiped a tear from his eye. "Is this some kind of joke your wife is playing, brother?" he said, still laughing. I glanced at Hades; he and Demeter seemed to be the only ones not laughing.

"I suppose living with him would make anyone fake a kidnapping," my dad chuckled, slapping Zeus on the back. I had never seen them so friendly to each other. Usually they were arguing.

"Well I don't find this funny one bit. This must be that terrible sense of humor you have that's seemed to rub off on my daughter," Demeter said, crossing her arms over her chest. Hades leaned to the side in his chair and rubbed his temples like he had a headache.

"I knew that fool Odysseus would cause trouble one day," he said.

"Hey! I liked Odysseus," Athena said indignantly. I remembered from one of Annabeth's lessons that she had helped Odysseus on his journey home.

"What did Odysseus do?" I asked. Hades looked at me sharply.

"He's the one who invented the Iron Queen. He's the one who gave my wife that ridiculous nickname."

"What?" Annabeth, Nico and I all yelled in unison.

"Wait, are you saying Persephone is the Iron Queen?" Annabeth asked.

"Obviously," Hades said. "When Odysseus passed through the Underworld he called her the Iron Queen. He foolishly believed her name was forbidden to speak. She liked it so much that she decided to call herself that for nearly a century."

"It was pretty fun too," Apollo said.

"She thought it sounded like a superhero, like Wonder Woman, and would sometimes dress up as the Iron Queen," Hades added irritably. Ares snorted.

"As if your wife could compare to Wonder Woman. She could take the Iron Queen any day of the week," he said.

"Isn't that a comic book character?" I said. Probably not the best move contradicting a god. His blazing eyes turned towards me.

"Exactly who do you think she's based off of? My daughter Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons," Areas said.

"Yeah, but your daughter never showed up at our Halloween party dressed as Wonder Woman," my father pointed out. Ares turned his dark stare to him.

"Maybe if your son hadn't abducted her she would've actually been able to come to the parties."

"Please! We all agreed not to talk about Theseus and Heracles anymore. Let's not get into this again!" Hera cried.

"So why are we so worried if Persephone isn't kidnapped? Why are we wasting our time if the two of you just had a lovers' spat?" Aphrodite asked. She probably had better things to do, like brush her hair a thousand times. I saw her raise an eyebrow at me and blushed.

"Well I thought she might have been taken," Hades said.

"But the Oracle said…" Nico trailed off. I saw his brow furrow like he was trying to remember.

"The Oracle? What did she say?" Apollo asked, sitting up straight.

"She said _find the lost soul whom the Iron Queen claims,"_Nico said.

"Wouldn't that mean Persephone took someone rather than someone took her?" Annabeth asked. "We have to find that person." I saw Zeus scratch his chin. I caught my dad's eye and saw him wink at me.

"Zeus, they have to find Persephone. Think of the welfare of the world; if she's up here during the winter, the seasons will go haywire. You know Demeter can't control herself when her daughter's here," Athena said logically.

"I most certainly can!" Demeter cried indignantly.

"You're right. The heroes must find the Iron Queen and bring her back here. Find who she has taken and release him," he glanced wryly at his brother. "I also can't stand to see my brother acting like a whimpering dog."

"I'm not acting like that," Hades muttered. The other gods and goddesses laughed.

"This assembly is dismissed," Zeus said, rising from his throne. The others followed his lead and, after he had left, began leaving the throne room as well. All except for our parents, that is.

"Nico, I would like to speak to you privately," Hades said. I heard Nico gulp loudly as he followed his father from the room. When they were gone Poseidon and Athena turned to Annabeth and me. It was now my turn to gulp loudly. While my father didn't look too upset, Athena was glaring at us with a stare that could have frozen a pirate's blood.

"We'd like to talk to you both about your new relationship," my dad started.

"Annabeth, I feel that you and Percy are moving entirely too quickly. You know I have accepted your feelings for him," Athena's eyes narrowed as she looked at me. "but I feel that you are letting yourself get too caught up with him and it's not healthy for you."

"Mom, I'm not," Annabeth argued.

"I just don't want to see you lose sight of your goals and end up hurt by him," Athena said.

"And who says my son will hurt her?" Poseidon asked angrily.

"Well he is your son, after all," Athena said snidely. This could not turn out good. The two gods squared off with dangerous glares. I grabbed Annabeth's arm and pulled her back.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Poseidon asked.

"Please! You're worse than a satyr!" Athena replied.

"Oh, is that so? Well last time I checked your cabin at Camp Half-Blood had a good deal more campers than mine," my dad said.

"You also had a pact with your brothers not to have any more children!" Athena cried.

"Which just goes to show you that I have a little more self-control than some other goddesses in the room," Poseidon said.

"Excuse me?" Athena asked indignantly. "I happen to be a maiden goddess." Poseidon snorted.

"Until you meet an intelligent man, then pop! A kid comes out of your head. 'Oh you're so smart, pop! There's a kid. Look, another smartie! Pop! There's a kid.'" My dad imitated Athena, which only angered her even more.

"How dare you!" Athena cried out.

"I dare because you insulted my son by suggesting he would hurt your daughter! What if your daughter hurts my son? Maybe I'm not okay with this relationship either! Maybe your daughter is no good for my son!" I felt Annabeth grab my arm tightly. I looked over at her and saw her eyes were red and filled with tears. I knew exactly how she felt. This had to stop.

"Okay, that's enough!" I yelled. The two gods stopped their yelling and turned towards me. I felt like running and hiding but held my ground.

"Dad, Annabeth is great. She's brave and strong and loyal and smart. She makes me happy," I said.

"I know son. I like Annabeth," my dad said, giving her a small smile. I could tell he was still mad but it didn't seem to be at us. I turned to Athena, hoping she wouldn't fry me to a crisp.

"I would never purposely hurt your daughter. I really like her and she's my best friend. I know you don't approve of me, but I hope that maybe one day you'll understand what I feel for her." Athena pursed her lips and looked like she was thinking what I said over.

"Mom, please," Annabeth said softly.

"Very well then, Percy. While I don't necessarily approve, I see that my daughter loves you. I want her to be happy," Athena finally said. I felt my cheeks flame. Annabeth and I definitely hadn't said we loved each other. I glanced over at Annabeth. Her face was bright pink too.

"Thank you," I said. Squeaked is more like it. Athena nodded at me and then looked at Annabeth.

"Come with me. I'd like to speak to you alone," she said, motioning for Annabeth to follow her. When they were gone I turned to my dad.

"So how's the rebuilding going?" I asked. He shrugged.

"They're going. It's taking a lot longer than I want. Amphitrite and I keep disagreeing on the renovations. I want white pearl, she wants pink shell. It's been nice getting away from them for a bit," he said.

"How's Tyson?" Tyson was my half-brother and a Cyclops. I hadn't seen him in months and felt a little bad. I really missed him. My dad let out a hearty laugh.

"He's great. He was made a supervisor down at the forges last month and he's been having the time of his life. He misses you though. I suggested that he come visit sometime while you're at camp, but I guess now that visit will be postponed." I nodded. There was a moment of awkward silence between us. My dad and I got along, but we definitely weren't father and son of the year. I had no idea what to talk to him about, especially when there wasn't a war going on. What does the god of the sea talk about in casual conversation? Shells? Hurricanes?

"Why does Athena think I'll hurt Annabeth?" I asked suddenly before I could stop myself. Poseidon sighed.

"It's partly because she hates me, but I think we can blame Theseus on that one," he answered.

"What do you mean?" I had heard stories of Theseus, how he killed the Minotaur and traveled to the Underworld – not quite as impressive when you've done those things twice – but wasn't sure why I was being compared to him.

"Theseus was my son, a demi-god, and a great hero, but he caused a few problems, mostly when it came to women. I'm sure you know Dionysus holds no love for Theseus." I remembered Mr. D telling me that Theseus had left Ariadne (who later became Mr. D's wife) on an island.

"So Athena thinks I'll leave Annabeth on an island? I mean, have I ever just left her anywhere?" I said angrily.

"Of course you haven't and I know you would never do that to her. I think Athena fears that, like Theseus, you'll see another girl who will catch your eye and will leave Annabeth. I don't blame her for being fearful of that, but I know you. You wouldn't do that," he said.

"Thanks, Dad. It means a lot that you have that kind of faith in me," I said.

"Of course I do, you're my son," he said, patting me on the shoulder. It felt good to have this moment with my dad. "I will warn you though," he started with a frown. "You will be tested with each step. Do not doubt that."

**AN: So I'm starting to think this this story isn't as good as I hoped it would be and you guys aren't enjoying it, hence the lack of reviews. Is there anything you'd change? Anything you'd like to see? Do I need to get on my knees and beg you to review? Trust me, I will! **

**No, really I won't. But I would love to hear from you! Reviews make me update faster! **


	6. I Find Out Women Aren't Rational

**AN: Immense apologies below...**

Annabeth was taking longer to talk to her mom than I had taken talking to my dad so I decided to walk around Olympus. The last time I had been here was right after the war; it looked good now considering all it had been through. I suspect that has something to do with Annabeth. Bright braziers were light along the streets, lighting the path in the darkness. I glanced up at the sky. It was more amazing than I had ever seen it and trust me when I say I've seen it look amazing before. Away from all brightness of any city lights for thousands of miles the stars above shone brighter than any mere mortal could begin to imagine. My eyes immediately found familiar constellations: Cassiopeia, Orion, the Big Dipper. Those were easy enough. I'm sure were Annabeth here she'd tell me how certain ones were only visible during certain times of the year. I'm sure I'd tell her that on Olympus I was sure it didn't matter. My eyes then focused on one that wasn't as familiar as the others: that of Zoe Nightshade. She had fallen in battle several years ago. She was a Hunter of Artemis and, after her death, Artemis had turned her into a constellation. I thought it was a fitting way to spend eternity.

"Percy!" I heard someone call my name. Turning I saw Nico jogging towards me.

"Glad to see your dad didn't pulverize you," I said when he reached me. Nico rolled his eyes and scowled slightly.

"He's not that bad of a guy, you know," he said.

"Sure," I said sarcastically, thinking about all the times Hades had tried to kill me. "Did you find anything else out about Persephone?" Nico nodded.

"Do you know anything about Theseus entering the Underworld?" he asked me. I shrugged.

"Other than the fact that he entered and Heracles saved him, not really," I answered.

"Well, my dad explained a little more about the story. He said that Theseus had this friend named Pirithous, who was a son of Zeus. They decided that they wanted to marry and that they would help each other get wives. Theseus chose this girl named Helen so they kidnapped her and took her to Theseus' mother to wait until she was old enough to marry. Pirithous decided he wanted to marry Persephone. The two men entered the Underworld and intended to kidnap Persephone but Hades found out. He invited the two demi-gods to dinner and had a huge meal prepared for them. But as soon as they sat huge vines began wrapping themselves around the two mens' legs and feet, sealing them to the chairs. Hades had cursed the chairs to make them both forget who they were and why they had come. Later on, Heracles came to Hades and freed Theseus but was unable to free Pirithous. Dad thinks that's who Persephone left with," Nico explained.

"Hades thinks she freed this Pirithous? Why? He wanted to kidnap her and force her to marry him. Isn't she tired of that?" I pointed out.

"That's probably why she took him. Dad thinks that she's getting tired of always being the one who gets kidnapped and forced to marry. Apparently it's happened quite a lot over the years, even though no one's actually succeeded other than my dad," Nico added.

"It just doesn't make any sense. Why would she kidnap someone who once tried to kidnap her and make it appear as if she had been kidnapped by someone who was entirely made up?" I asked.

"I don't know! Persephone isn't exactly the most rational person out there. I mean, she's a goddess for crying out loud. They're not exactly known for their even tempers or calm reactions. She turned me into a dandelion once because of a little argument. I think that should tell you something about her rationality," Nico said irritably. I frowned. Nico had a point. In my experience with the gods they had always been ones to act first, think later. I wondered if that was what Persephone had done. I wondered if she was sitting somewhere with this Pirithous guy and kicking herself for running away with him. Did goddesses kick themselves? I couldn't imagine any that I had met doing that. They probably would find someone to blame. Probably me.

"This is going to be a harder quest than I thought," I said.

Nico and I walked into a large hall at the end of the street. In the middle of the room was a long table filled with food. My mouth started watering the second the smells reached my nose. I'm pretty sure my stomach growling echoed off the walls too. Sitting at the far end of the table was a blonde head, her face hidden by a tower of food.

"Annabeth?" I called out. The head leaned back, Annabeth's face appearing. Her face was slightly pale and her eyes were red-rimmed but she wore a slight smile.

"It's about time you two got here. Dinner was getting cold," she said.

"We didn't know there was food," Nico said. I sat across from Annabeth as Nico began piling food on a plate.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly. She nodded slightly and took a sip from her golden cup. "I take it your conversation with your mom didn't go so well," I said. Her eyes narrowed but she remained quiet. "Annabeth," I said, reaching across and taking her hand. She pulled it away and placed it in her lap under the table.

"Eat, Percy," she said quietly. I could tell I was starting to irritate her so I gave up. For now. Nico and I scraped part of the food on our plates into a burning brazier. The scent of pizza and burgers filled the room. We returned to our seats and began eating. Annabeth continued to remain silent so we did the same. I wanted to talk to her about what Nico had told me but knew now wasn't the time. I needed to find out what she and her mother had discussed. In my opinion that was more important than a goddess who was out somewhere pouting.

When we finished Nico announced he was going to go on to bed. I decided now was as good as time as any to pry information from Annabeth.

"Come on," I said, holding my hand out to her. She frowned at me.

"I think I'm going to go on to bed too," she said as she stood.

"Oh, no you don't," I said, pulling her from her seat.

"Percy, really, I'm tired," she said. She jerked her hand from mine and started walking towards the door.

"Annabeth," I called after her. She stopped before she reached the door but didn't turn around. I trotted towards her and placed my hand on her shoulder, turning her to look at me. "What's wrong with you?" I asked. This was getting weird. I couldn't understand what could possibly be wrong with her. Things had been great between us. We hadn't had a fight in weeks. Why was she mad at me now?

"Percy, can we please not discuss this now? We have a quest we need to worry about," she said. I could tell she was trying to stay calm. Her eyes were starting to blaze with a look that told me I shouldn't push her any further.

"Fine," I said, dropping my hand. If she wanted to be mad then I could be mad.

"Fine," she repeated. We stared at each other frowning. "I'll see you in the morning. Try not to oversleep," she said, turning quickly and leaving. I stood staring at the door, my hands clenching and unclenching. They were itching for something to do. I reached in my pocket and fingered my pen. Sparring usually helped when I was feeling like this. Unfortunately there weren't any demigods around to spar with. I clenched the pen and brought it out, uncapping the top. My sword came to life in my hand. Riptide. It felt good to hold it. The longer I held it the more rage I started to feel. I no longer wanted to spar but fight. I started breathing harder, my heart pounding excitedly in my chest.

Uh, oh. I knew that feeling. Ares must be around somewhere. I capped my sword quickly, turning it back into a pen. The feeling started to subside. I hoped he had left. I closed my eyes and began taking deep breaths, hoping it would help to get rid of any feeling of rage, when the sweet smell of perfume caught my nose. I opened my eyes and saw the goddess Aphrodite standing before me with a small smile on her face.

"Trouble in paradise?" she asked, her voice slightly teasing.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied. She snorted, a very uncharacteristic action for her.

"You don't fool me. Your little girlfriend seems to be mad at you. I'll wager it has to do with that niece of mine," she said.

"Niece?" I asked. As much as I cared about Annabeth I still felt completely gaga around Aphrodite. She giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Athena," she answered. I frowned. I suspected the same. Aphrodite stepped towards me and ran her fingers through my hair. I felt my spine stiffen from her touch. She smiled at me and leaned forward, kissing my forehead.

"Don't worry, little demigod. Athena is wrong," she said.

"Wrong?" I asked. I apparently had lost all talent for asking intelligent questions. I'm sure Annabeth would argue that I never had the talent.

"Goodnight," she said, wiggling her fingers at me as she swayed out the door. Once again I stood staring at the doorway, confused as ever. With a sharp sigh I closed my eyes and shook my head. Tonight had been more than I really wanted to deal with.

I decided I would worry about it in the morning.

**AN2: Okay... If you're still following this story, which I suspect you are if you're reading this (although I don't blame you if you forgot what this story is about... don't worry, I did too). I'm SO SO SO sorry it's taken me 2 months to update. I've been working on another story for a while now and I finally finished it (hooray!) so I thought I'd celebrate by updating this story. I know it's not a very long chapter and really nothing happens in it, but I had to get back into Percy Jackson mode since I've been out of it for so long. **

**If you're interested in my story that I've been working on, it's coming along great. I'm pretty pleased with it and am now in the process of proofreading it and making sure it sounds okay. I've discovered I'm not so good with consistency and continuity! Just to tell you a little about my story it's a YA fantasy type story... Clearly you can tell I enjoy those sort of things, despite my age! For those of you who followed my Narnia stories, I hope you'll like (and not hate!) that I stole some characters from them... Georgie and Edmund are the stars of my story! Don't worry, I've made them my own! I'll keep you updated on my progress... and hopefully I won't take 2 months to update this story! **

**As always... reviews make me type faster! (although I'm sure you think that's a total lie now...) **


	7. Apollo Woos a Hotel Clerk

The next morning started out pretty rough. Not being able to sleep I had tossed and turned most of the night so when my alarm clock went off I groggily got up. In case you're wondering what an alarm clock from Olympus is like, my advice would be don't wonder what an alarm clock from Olympus is like. They're not very fun.

Annabeth seemed to be in a better mood. At least I think she was. She smiled at me when Nico and I met her in the hall where we had eaten the night before. Sitting on the table were three bright yellow backpacks.

"Hermes?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the packs. Annabeth nodded.

"I think our parents put a few things in there as well," she added.

"Oh?" I asked as I rifled through one of them.

"Yeah, my mom put some gold drachmas in my bag. There's some sort of sea weedy set of keys in yours and a black ski cap in Nico's," Annabeth explained.

"And those are supposed to mean…?" Nico asked. Annabeth shrugged her shoulders.

"I know what mine means," she said as she slung one of the bags on her shoulders. I saw a bit of knit wool sticking out of one of the tops of the bags.

"I think this one is yours," I said, handing it to Nico. He pulled out the cap and sighed.

"What, does he think I'll get cold?" Nico grumbled as she shoved the cap back in the bag. I dug through my bag and saw the set of keys. Annabeth was right: they were sea weedy. There was a keychain on them – one of those squishy ones that are made to float if it falls in the water – that read 'Sea Breeze.'

"Well, well, demigods! Are we ready to hit the road?" a loud voice asked behind us. Apollo was leaning against the doorframe, a pair of dark sunglasses on his face as he grinned at us.

"You're taking us?" I asked doubtfully.

"What? Have I ever let you down?" he asked, lowering his shades.

"Come on, let's just go," Annabeth said as she walked from the room.

"Ooh, a girl who knows what she wants. I like that," Apollo said. He lowered his sunglasses and followed Annabeth. Sighing I slung my backpack over my shoulders and followed Nico out. This was going to be a long quest.

We mostly rode in silence in Apollo's car, unless you count the blaring music from the speakers. I'm sure you're thinking 'I bet a god has awesome tastes in music.' You'd probably be right, too, if you enjoy listening to a harp for hours. Excuse me. Lyre.

"Listen to this part! Man, that's the sweetest bridge!" Apollo shouted over the music.

"It's great!" Annabeth shouted back. "Can we turn it down?"

Apollo glared at her; I could see brightness growing behind the sunglasses. For a split second I was worried he was going to toss her from the side of the car. If you ever see a god frown at you, it's probably not a good thing. Apollo reached over and turned down the music.

"Thanks," Annabeth said politely.

"So where are you taking us?" I asked, hoping to diffuse the tension.

"Here," he answered, handing me a Polaroid. It was a picture of a motel. A dimly lit neon sign stood in front of it.

"Where is this?" I asked.

"California," he replied.

"San Francisco," Annabeth added softly.

"How do you know?" Nico asked.

"I've been there," she replied.

"Wait, what?" I asked, glancing at the picture again. The place wasn't exactly the Ritz. It looked like a hotel out of a bad gangster movie. Why had my girlfriend been to such a seedy motel? "We stayed there once while our house was being repainted," she explained with a shrug. Hm. "So what do we do when we get to San Francisco?" Nico asked.

"We could always find Nereus," Annabeth suggested.

"What? No way. I don't want to try to catch him again. He wasn't exactly all that helpful the first time," I protested. He also smelled awful.

"Well then you suggest something," Annabeth snapped as she turned back around in her seat. I saw her reach over to the radio and turn the volume up full blast.

It was late in the afternoon when we finally reached the hotel in San Francisco. Seeing as how we were still teenagers and most hotels don't let teenagers check in Apollo hopped out of the car and led us into the front office. Behind the desk stood a pretty blonde woman who looked like she would rather be anywhere but here. She was smacking loudly on gum as she turned the pages of a magazine. Glancing up she froze mid-page-turn. I guess Apollo could have that effect on women.

"Hi there," he said, whipping off his sunglasses in one smooth motion. The woman's jaw dropped open slightly.

"We need to get a room for the night," Apollo said.

He leaned against the desk and gave the woman a dazzling smile. I had to force myself not to snort at the woman's reaction. She let out an inaudible noise and turned to the ancient looking computer that sat on the desk.

"Just one?" she asked.

"That would be great," he answered.

I saw Annabeth roll her eyes as she glanced at me. I grinned. At least whatever was wrong with her hadn't affected her sense of humor. I was also glad that she wasn't falling for Apollo's suave moves. It made me feel slightly better about the lack of mine. I saw Apollo hand the woman what looked like a library card. The woman swiped it through a credit card machine which buzzed happily after it was swiped.

"You're in room 214. We have breakfast between 6:00 and 9:00 in the morning. Is there anything else I can do for you?" the woman asked nervously.

I could see a faint blush on her cheeks. Were all women that ridiculous around him? As if she could read my mind Annabeth shot me an annoyed glance.

"You can show me that pretty smile again," Apollo said, giving the woman a wink. She blushed even harder. That time I did snort.

Apollo walked with us to our room before he left.

"Okay, demigods, this is where I leave you. Good luck finding Persephone. She's always fun at parties," he said as he handed me our room key.

"Uh, thanks," I said. He gave us a small wave and jogged back to his car. With a blinding light he was gone.

"Some help he was," Nico grumbled.

"Come on, let's go in and decide what we're going to do," Annabeth said.

She took the key from my hand and unlocked the door. When we walked in the room smelled vaguely of cigarette smoke and feet. Other than that it seemed clean enough. Well, as clean as a motel on the side of the road can be. Annabeth swung her backpack off and tossed it onto the bed closest to the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. Okay this really was getting out of hand. I figured I needed to find out what was wrong with her before we got too deep into this quest otherwise it would probably get very ugly.

"Hey, Nico, I think I saw a vending machine outside the front office. Why don't you go get some snacks for all of us?" I suggested, raising my eyes at him and motioning to Annabeth. Thankfully he got the hint.

"Yeah, sure, I'll be right back," he said. When he shut the door behind him I sat on the other bed and leaned my arms on my knees.

"Okay, spill it," I said, hoping my voice sounded stern enough so Annabeth wouldn't argue. "Spill what?" she asked. Crap.

"What's been bothering you? You've been acting weird since last night," I said. She sighed. "Percy, not now," she answered. She raised her knees, drawing them towards her chest, and placed her chin on top of them. She looked defeated somehow and that certainly wasn't Annabeth.

"No, we're doing this now," I said, this time hoping my voice sounded gentle so she wouldn't get mad that I was pushing. "What happened to upset you?"

"Theseus," she whispered. I think I let out a noise that was a mixture of "Huh?" and "What?" She looked at me and smiled slightly.

"Back on Olympus my mom talked to me about us. You and me I mean. Of course she tried to convince me I could do better, I shouldn't be so serious about you, I should focus on my studies; typical things the goddess of wisdom would say. I got mad and told her just because she hates your dad doesn't mean I have to hate you," Annabeth began.

"Good," I said, earning a frown from her.

"She explained to me that wasn't the main reason she didn't like me dating you. I figured I knew about your dad's indiscretions, even though I'd prefer not to know all the details, but she told me more about Theseus and how he was a son of Poseidon and was terrible to women," she said. "But you knew all of that already," I pointed out.

If anyone knew every Greek myth, it was Annabeth. I couldn't tell you how many lectures I had to sit through about this or that myth. Literally there were probably hundreds I'd been given by her.

"I know!" she said irritably.

"Then what's the problem? Why does Theseus have you upset if you already knew about him?" I asked.

"Ariadne joined in the conversation," she said flatly.

I frowned. I knew what that meant. Theseus had left Ariadne on an island after she had helped him escape from the Labyrinth using her string. Mr. D had picked her up and, after they fell in love, married her. I'm pretty certain Ariadne getting into the mix with Annabeth didn't exactly help my chances.

"So now what? You think I'm suddenly Theseus just because we have the same dad?" I asked a little defensively.

"No. It's just that children of Poseidon aren't known for their commitment," she said.

"That's not fair, Annabeth!" I argued. I ran a hand through my hair. Why was everyone suddenly comparing me to Theseus?

"Maybe it's not," she said softly, lowering her chin back to her knees. I sighed and stood. "Look," I started, squatting in front of her. She raised her eyes to mine. Gods they were beautiful. "You know me better than anyone up there. Have I ever hurt you or left you or been tempted to do either of those things? No and I never will. You have to trust me on that," I said firmly. I could see her eyes starting to shine from the tears in them.

"I know," she whispered.

She lowered her knees and wrapped her arms around me. Thank the gods, I thought as I wrapped my arms around her tightly. I held her for several long moments before my knees starting to ache. We pulled away from each other and I moved to sit on the bed. She scooted towards me and leaned against my shoulder.

"Want to watch TV?" I asked. I picked up a card that was sitting on the small bedside table that had a list of channels. At the top was the motel's name and logo of two small pine trees.

"Two Pines Motel," I read out loud.

"Were there any pine trees out there?" Annabeth asked as she took the card from me. I shrugged. I didn't even know if pine trees grew in California. As if an answer to my question we heard yelling from outside. Annabeth sat up straight.

"Who would be yelling like that?" I asked. We both listened carefully as the yelling grew louder.

"Nico!" we both yelled in surprise.

**AN: Hooray! An update that DIDN'T take two months! Haha... Let me just say that if you're thinking about writing a PJO story, don't! Okay... maybe you could... I'm just finding it INCREDIBLY hard. Not because the characters are hard to get or the story is hard to create; it's just that looking up Greek things to figure out how to incorporate mythology into a story and having it work for your plot is very very hard. Or at least it is for me. I now have an even greater respect for Rick Riordan and his books. **

**Also, just a little bit of me-info... In case you haven't checked it out I do have a blog that I've been working on (the link is under my profile). I put a little excerpt from my story I've been working on (non-fan-fiction) if you'd like to go check it out! **

**Thanks for reading! You guys are awesome! **

**AN#2 (written days after original AN): Okay... this was supposed to get uploaded ohhh... a week ago. However, was not able to due to Error #2. Dunno what that means, but it's finally gone so hey! I'm not complaining!**


	8. We Find Where the Pine Trees Are

**AN: I REALLY had all intentions of making this chapter longer... but kind of liked where it ended. Again... apologies for not updating sooner, but, as I always say, reviews make me write faster! So do yourself a favor and send me a review!**

I uncapped Riptide as Annabeth and I ran out of the hotel room.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"There!" Annabeth cried.

I looked to where she was pointing. In the distance were two large trees – pine trees, I'd bet anything – bent over as if they had been tied down. My eyes widened when I saw that what they were tied to was Nico. His head was slumped forward. I tightened my grip on my sword when I saw a tall stick-like figure dance out from behind one of the trees.

"Hello little demi-gods!" he cried. I started forward but Annabeth grabbed my wrist.

"Percy wait!" she hissed.

"What?" I asked, scowling at her. Why was she telling me to wait when our friend was in trouble? This wasn't a time for waiting; it was a time for action!

Uh oh. The look on her face told me that I should probably wipe those thoughts from my head. "That's Sinis, the Pinebender," she said.

"The who?" I asked. I glanced back at the man. He was leaning against a long axe and grinning weirdly at us.

"He captures travelers and ties them between two pine trees. I think you can guess what happens when he cuts the rope," Annabeth said. The color drained from her face. I'm sure mine looked about the same.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"Don't just stand there! I've been waiting for you, Son of Hades!" Sinis called again to us. He let out a peal of maniacal laughter.

"Does he think you're…" Annabeth trailed off.

"He thinks I'm Nico," I whispered. I started walking towards the trees, my hand clenching tighter around Riptide. Sinis lifted the axe.

"Not another step or I split your little friend in half," he cried.

"What is it you want with me?" I asked.

I figured I might as well play along and let him think I was Nico. Maybe it could save the real one.

"The most beautiful woman appeared the other day. Said she was a queen. Hmph! No queens around here as far as I know, but she was beautiful! Had a fellow with her who seemed to walk funny; very skinny legs. Not that I have any room to talk!" Sinis said with a cackle of a laugh, using the axe to point to his own skinny legs.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked. I was starting to get a little annoyed with this toothpick.

"Silence!" Sinis yelled, raising the axe high. "That queen told me that if I made sure to let you pass safely she would make sure I was rewarded," he said.

"Rewarded how?" I asked.

"By getting to bend my trees and send two demi-gods flying!" he cackled. I heard Annabeth gasp loudly behind me when Sinis raised his axe, prepared to cut the ropes that held Nico to the bent trees.

"Wait!" she cried, rushing to my side. Sinis turned and looked sideways at her.

"What are you doing?" I mumbled under my breath.

"Just trust me," she hissed, turning those pleading gray eyes on me.

"The little lady wanted to say something? Is this too gruesome for your eyes? You're welcome to close them. Although you'll be next," he said. "I have a better deal for you," Annabeth announced.

"Oh?" Sinis said, bringing his axe down.

"If you can defeat the Son of Hades then he will gladly let you tie me to the trees and will promise you a second visit from the queen," Annabeth said.

I looked at her slowly. I'm pretty sure my girlfriend has long her mind. Why would she promise something like that? Even more, why would she put that much pressure on me? She must have caught my growing scowl because she quickly said, "But if the Son of Hades wins, then you must let your prisoner and us go."

"So, with your new deal, if I lose, I get to kill no one?" Sinis said, scratching his chin.

"But if you win you get to kill two of us and get a queen," I pointed out.

"I can't really see a downside to this. Even if I lose, there will still be more travelers. I've found hotels seem to bring them in," Sinis said with a sharp laugh.

"Let's get on with it then," I said. Sinis easily tossed his axe up in the air. My eyes widened as it came down and transformed into a long silver blade.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked Annabeth. She snorted slightly.

"Of course I am. You've defeated tons of other things bigger and badder than this guy. You probably won't even break a sweat," she said. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a quick kiss.

"You owe me big time for this," I whispered when she stepped away.

"Well, let's get on with it!" Sinis said cheerfully as he brought his large sword down in an arc towards me. I easily blocked his blade, responding with a swipe of my own. He may not look like much but Sinis was definitely a better swordsman than I gave him credit for. We found ourselves staring at each other, blades locked, when he gave me an evil grin.

"You know you'll never win this. No one ever has," he said.

"That's not true!" Annabeth cried. Sinis glared at her. "Theseus defeated you," she said.

Sinis let out a loud scream. He sounded pretty similar to that time my mom saw a mouse in our pantry. Neither screams were very pretty.

"You dare bring up that name! He cheated!" Sinis screamed.

"How did he cheat? He defeated you, fair and square!" Annabeth retorted. I was beginning to wonder if my fight with Sinis was still on. Both he and Annabeth had seemed to forgotten me. "He distracted me and then knocked me unconscious! Such an unsportsmanlike way to fight!" Sinis said.

He was now squared off in front of Annabeth, his back to me. I saw Annabeth's eyes dart quickly to me. It was as if we had ESP or something now. I somehow knew what she was telling me to do. I raised the butt of my sword and brought it down hard on Sinis' head. He crumpled to the ground in front of me.

"Oh, I knew that would work!" Annabeth cried, skipping over Sinis and throwing herself into my arms.

"You know, you probably could have filled me in," I said, wrapping my free arm around her.

I heard a groan coming from the trees.

"Nico," I said, pulling away from Annabeth and hurrying towards him.

"My head," Nico groaned. He tried to put his hand on his head but instead tugged on the rope. "What am I… Why am I tied up?" he said, coming further into consciousness.

"Too much to explain now. We have to get you down," I said. I lifted my sword to the rope, ready to cut.

"Percy! Are you nuts?" Annabeth yelled, grabbing my wrist.

"What? I have to cut the rope to free him," I argued.

"Yeah, and if you cut that one then he goes flying the other way," she pointed out.

"I think we should listen to Annabeth on this one, Percy," Nico said in a strange voice. I'm pretty certain he just figured out what would happen to him if the ropes were cut.

"Okay, so what do we do?" I asked.

Annabeth stared silently at the tree. I swear if her head was translucent I could probably see all the gears whirling around in there. She began muttering "What if we" and "Maybe we could" while circling Nico. He shot a worried glance at me.

"I've got it!" Annabeth cried suddenly.

"About time," Nico muttered. She frowned at him before glancing up at me.

"If we both cut through the ropes at the same time, the trees will fly back but Nico won't," she explained. I glanced at the knife she held.

"Um, Annabeth, not to be a killjoy but I don't think you're knife will cut as quickly as my sword," I pointed out.

Her mouth contorted into a frown for a split second before her eyes opened wider and she skipped over to where Sinis lay. She picked up his long sword and held it up.

"I can use this," she said proudly.

"Do you think you'll be able to swing it?" I asked. Not that I doubted her with a sword. I've seen her use one at camp and she's pretty good. I just wondered if she would be able to bring it down with the same force I could. The daggers her eyes were shooting me seemed to answer that question. When we were standing on either side of the two ropes Annabeth said, "Okay, we'll strike on the count of three. We have to do this at exactly the same time otherwise it might not work."

"Wait, might not?" Nico cried, twisting towards us as Annabeth counted, "One, two, three!"


	9. We're in the Hotel from Hades

"So what do we do with him?" Nico asked as he rubbed his wrists where the ropes had been. Luckily Annabeth's plan had worked and we had been able to free him without sending him flying across the sky.

"I say we deal with him the same way Theseus did," Annabeth said.

"What did he do?" I asked worriedly. I didn't like the sound of that suggestion. The ancients had a funny way of handling their enemies, usually in an equally gruesome way.

"Once he had knocked Sinis unconscious he then tied him to the pine trees and cut the rope," Annabeth explained. I let out a grossed-out noise. That was a little too intense.

"What if we just tied him to one tree and called it a day?" I asked. Annabeth and Nico looked at me blankly.

"Yeah, that sounds like a super idea, Percy. Let's just tie the murdering bad guy to a tree and wait for someone to see him and then untie him. I'm sure that'll work out well for everyone," Nico said sarcastically.

"Well I certainly don't think splitting the man in two and having his guts flung everywhere would be the better idea," I argued. I saw Nico scowl.

"You two are kind of being ridiculous," Annabeth announced. She was starting to drag Sinis' body towards the tree.

"You do realize that if he's split apart, he'll just turn into dust like the rest of the monsters? He's no longer human," she explained. I trotted over to her and grabbed Sinis' other arm to help her. "You could have just said that," I muttered.

Annabeth snorted and began tying Sinis' wrist to the tree with the ropes Nico had been tied with. I tied the other, trying not to imagine what it must have looked like when Sinis had used this trap on a human. Once we had gotten him tied Sinis' head began to bob as he started to come around. His eyes shifted left and right as if he were taking in what was being done to him.

"Dirty little demigods! You cheated!" he screamed as he struggled against the ropes.

"Annabeth, I still don't feel right about this," I admitted, ignoring him. She frowned at me. "Percy, he'll try to kill others if we don't stop him," she said.

"This just seems… I don't know, wrong," I said.

"Cheaters! Cheaters just like that dirty Theseus!" Sinis continued to scream. I felt my lips tighten together. He was starting to get on my nerves. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad… Annabeth laid her hand on my arm.

"We don't have to," she said quietly. I shot a glance at her, confused by her sudden change. "What? Are you kidding? It's not like he's going to die," Nico complained. Annabeth and I turned towards him. I was pretty sure we both shot him identical annoyed looks. Nico shrugged. "Well I was just saying what we were all thinking," he muttered, kicking a small rock in front of him.

"No, I know he's going there. pause I can't help it if he doesn't like it. pause Well that's not my problem," came a fast talking voice from behind us. We all turned and saw a tall, well-dressed man talking on a cell phone walking towards us. Hermes.

"I have to go. pause No I know you're busy. pause I can't help that, I have to go," he argued into the phone before snapping it shut.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" he asked with a chuckle. I heard Sinis swear under his breath. "Sinis, I thought I told you not to do this anymore," Hermes said casually.

"Why are you gods always trying to stop my fun?" Sinis whined.

"Seems to me it's never the gods who stop you, but demigods. I don't think it's wise to confuse us," Hermes said. With a snap of his fingers the ropes from the trees disappeared and Sinis fell to his knees.

"Demigods, pshh. They're a pain, that's what they are," Sinis said. Hermes shrugged and sent us a wink.

"Oh, I don't know. They're mostly alright," he said jovially.

"Tell that to my daughter," Sinis spat.

Hermes frowned. I almost grabbed Annabeth and ducked for cover. As I said, earning a frown from a god is never a good thing. Hermes merely clucked and shook his head.

"Don't you think it's time you let that go?" he asked kindly. Sinis snorted.

"Well, suit yourself. I think it's time we're off. The Underworld is probably missing you," Hermes said, throwing an arm around Sinis' shoulder. Hermes' cell phone stretched into the more traditional caduceus.

"Finally! I hate being that small," one of the snakes said with a groan. It was George.

"Oh, hush," replied Martha. Hermes grinned and rolled his eyes at us.

"See you later, demigods," he said. With a loud pop, he and Sinis were gone.

"What was that all about?" Nico asked.

"Hermes, god of thieves," Annabeth answered.

"Duh, I know that. I meant what was all that about his daughter?" Nico said.

"Oh, that," Annabeth started, shooting a funny glance my way.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, when Theseus originally killed Sinis, he took Sinis' daughter," she said.

"What do you mean 'took'?" I asked. Annabeth shrugged. "There are different accounts. Some say he kidnapped her, others say he raped her. Either way, it wasn't good," she said.

I was silent. This was the guy everyone kept comparing me to? Sounds like a real gem.

"Percy, are you okay?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna go for a walk," I said. I shoved my hands in my pockets and began walking towards the trees.

Now, I don't know if you've ever tried taking a walk while you're staying at motel, but trust me when I said it's not that great. There wasn't really much space to take a walk; the motel's property, which I originally thought went on a good ways past the trees, seemed to end a few feet past the pine trees. Stupid mist.

After about an hour of pacing I gave up and headed back to our motel room. The sun was starting to set anyway, creating dark shadows around the property. My stomach was also starting to growl. I slid my key into the card slot and, when the light blinked green, I pushed on the handle. Annabeth was sitting on the bed where we had sat earlier, her giant architecture book resting on her knees. Nico was lying on the other bed, an arm draped across his face and snoring.

"Percy," Annabeth said softly. I gave her a small smile. "Better now?" she asked. I shrugged. "Better as I can be," I replied. She patted the bed next to her. When I sat she closed her book and weaved her fingers through mine.

"You're not Theseus," she stated firmly.

"Yeah, I know. I just wish everyone else would realize that," I grumbled.

"Percy, look at me," she commanded, catching me off guard. I looked at her grey eyes, pleading with me to believe her when she said, "Everyone else doesn't matter. You know you're not like Theseus; I know you're not like Theseus. The hell with everyone else." She gave me a grin with that last sentence.

"Thanks," I said, leaning forward and kissing her on the cheek.

"How long has he been out?" I asked, thumbing towards Nico. Annabeth shrugged.

"Not long. I stopped paying attention to him a while ago. Did you know that the temple of Apollo was built using Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns? I wonder if I could mmph!" Annabeth gave a muffled cry.

I had placed my hand over her mouth to stop her from talking. Now was definitely not the time to listen to her architecture lessons.

"I saw a pool on the backside of the motel. Want to go for a swim?" I asked, giving her a grin. Her eyes narrowed at me and she pulled my hand away.

"In what, exactly? I didn't bring a swimsuit," she said. I shrugged and stood.

"Why not? Something you should always consider when you go on a trip with Poseidon's son," I teased as I dug through my bag, pulling out a pair of swim trunks. Annabeth rolled her eyes and grinned at me before I went into the bathroom to change.

When I stepped out, a towel hanging around my neck, I saw that Annabeth hadn't moved.

"Not coming?" I asked.

"I'll think about it," she said. Shrugging I shot her a grin and opened the door.

"Suit yourself," I said.

The water felt great, despite it being the middle of winter, as I swam the length of the pool. I had lost track of how long I had been under, but when I glanced upwards I saw the shimmering sight of a figure. Kicking upwards I broke the surface and wiped the dripping water from my face. "How are you standing this? It's freezing!" Annabeth exclaimed. She was wearing a pair of black shorts and a t-shirt; no wonder she was cold.

"Why didn't you wear something warmer?" I asked.

"I thought we were going swimming," she replied.

"You didn't seem too into the idea," I pointed out.

"Well, maybe I am now," she said, sitting on the edge of the pool.

Her legs were drawn up, her toes curling around the curved edge of the pool. From where I sat I could see tiny goose bumps lining her legs.

"You'd be a lot warmer if you got in the water," I said, grabbing one of her ankles and gently pulling it towards me.

"Why is that?" she asked. I could feel her leg tense as I brought it down to the water. I'm sure she expected it to be cold.

"Because you'll be with me," I said in a voice that wasn't very familiar. It sounded deeper, like those men on the soap operas my mom sometimes watches if she happens to be at home during the day. Not that I watch them with her.

Annabeth seemed to notice it too, but if she thought anything of it, her face didn't tell. I pulled her other leg into the water; it didn't tense like the first one did.

"Come on," I said. She placed her hands on my shoulders and scooted off the edge of the pool, slipping into the water with a tiny splash.

"Hi," I said softly.

"Hi," she replied. We stayed motionless, with the exception of our legs treading water, for several moments.

"Why is the water so warm?" she asked.

I felt a small burst of satisfaction that she didn't move away from me or take her hands from my shoulders. I shrugged and slid my hands around her waist. I felt her tense slightly and then relax. She wound her hands around my neck.

"It feels great," she said.

"Yeah, it does," I replied in that same weird voice. She smiled wider.

"I meant the water," she said teasingly.

"What? Oh, I don't even notice it," I said, blushing slightly. She leaned her head to the side. "You don't notice that it's warm? I doubt a motel like this can afford a heated pool," she said, pulling back. Now that she mentioned it, I did feel the heat from the pool sink in.

"It feels like it's getting warmer," she said, glancing back at me.

"I think I feel it too. Do you see any type of control panel or anything?" I asked, glancing at the side of the pool. Annabeth suddenly gave a slight scream and wound her arms around me, her fingers digging into my skin.

"What?" I yelled as she splashed beside me.

"Look!" she cried, pointing to the shallow end of the pool. I saw a slight movement in the water; something shone dully under the surface. My hand instinctively went to my side where a pocket should be. I cursed as soon as I remembered my trunks didn't have pockets.

"Move!" I yelled at Annabeth, pushing her towards the pool's ladder.

She cried out, almost as if in pain, when she reached the ladder. I saw that her arm was bright red; the temperature of the water had increased enough so that even I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I noticed a small brass plate on the side of the pool, an "H" carved on it.

This couldn't be good.

**AN: Why, oh why, oh why does this website seem to NOT want me to finish this story? Everytime I try to update there's always SOME problem... I bet reviews might make the problems go away. (Okay, that was a cheap shot... haha)**


	10. My Water Skills Get us Great Pizza

**Super Quick AN: Bout to go get a well-deserved margarita, so I'm gonna make this quick. 1) I think the title of this chapter kind of sucks, but whatever. 2) All you're super great reviews from the last chapter not only made me update faster but also inspired me to get off my butt and start finishing up my novel and beginning the pimping process (ie writing query letters and sending them out). I actually sent out one yesterday... whether anything comes from it, I don't know. But I think it's a great first step! And just think... my confidence came from your encouraging words! Anyway... on to reading!**

Several flood lights flashed on, nearly blinding me. I waited until Annabeth had climbed the ladder and was out of the pool before I shot out of the water. My eyes widened as the thing that had glowed surfaced. I had seen it before; the sound of its metal legs clacking against the side of the pool as it climbed out made me cringe. Annabeth's fingers dug into my skin again.

"Percy," she wailed.

Yep, that's my girlfriend. Braver than any girl I've ever known but still afraid of spiders. Although, who could blame her? She was the daughter of Athena and really… who wouldn't be scared of a giant metal spider?

The spider clacked its way onto the cement around the pool as bright flood lights illuminated the area. I wrapped my arm around Annabeth's waist and began backing up away from the spider, pulling her with me. The spider began scurrying closer. Annabeth let out a small screech and turned.

My ADHD must have kicked in because instead of wondering what I was going to do about the spider I began to wonder if maybe I needed to enroll Annabeth in some type of spider intervention class.

"Percy, get it!" she cried as she scrambled onto a plastic table.

Oh, right. Spider. My hand flew to my side again, forgetting that I had already checked there for my pen. Crap! I didn't care how unmanly it might have looked but I turned, ready to climb onto the table with Annabeth, when a flash of dark metal flew through the air, hitting the spider with deadly accuracy.

I looked sharply to the left and saw Nico standing on the far side of the pool. Looking back at the spider I saw Nico's dark Stygian blade sticking out of its back, small sparks shooting out of it. Where had he learned to do that? Luckily Annabeth found her voice quicker than I did.

"Nico, that was amazing!" she said appraisingly. Nico shrugged as he walked to the spider. He pulled his sword from its back and gave it a sharp kick.

"It was nothing," he said. When he looked up at us he raised an eyebrow.

"Swimming? It's freezing," he pointed out. I glanced at Annabeth. Her arms were wrapped tightly over her chest. I could see her lips were slightly chattering.

"Let's go back inside," she said, grabbing my towel that I had thrown on a chair and wrapping it around her. Nico and I followed behind.

When Annabeth and I had both showered and gotten dressed it was nearly 8:00 in the evening. My stomach was beginning to growl and I realized that we hadn't eaten since earlier that morning. As if able to read my mind Annabeth dug through the beaten-up nightstand that sat between the two beds and produced a phone book that had probably seen better days. It also looked about five years outdated.

"Pizza?" she asked, not glancing up from the book as she flipped through it.

"Works for me," I said. Nico echoed my sentiments. After several moments of the only sound in the room being the rustling of pages in the phone book and the dull sound of a ball game from the TV, Annabeth broke the silence.

"Huh, that's funny," she said.

"What is?" Nico asked, not looking up from the TV screen. "_Rainbow Pizza: Get it in a splash_," she read. She glanced at me and I shrugged.

"There's no phone number," she said, showing me the advertisement.

On the faded yellow page was an advertisement in black print with a picture of a waterfall and a rainbow with its slogan printed in bold writing. At the very bottom corner was a picture of a tiny coin.

"Iris?" I asked. Annabeth nodded.

"That's what I'm thinking," she said, slamming the book shut.

"Can I point out that it is dark outside and rainbows typically don't appear at night?" Nico said. "Well, then we'll just have to make one," Annabeth said, hopping from the bed. She grabbed her coat and opened the door to our room. A blast of cold air came in.

"Are you guys coming?" she asked, giving us an impatient look. Nico and I exchanged a skeptical glance before following her. Leading us back to the pool, she paused hesitantly.

"There aren't any more spiders," I said, giving her hand a squeeze. At least I hoped.

The flood lights still shone brightly over the pool. I wondered if anyone else was staying here and hoped they were bothered by the booby-trapped pool. We probably should talk to Ares and Aphrodite to see if they have any other snuggly places. Call me a whiner but I'm a little tired of having Hephaestus' traps for them go off when Annabeth and I are in them. Maybe if we knew where they were we could be sure to avoid them in the future.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"All we need is a spray of water in front of the lights. That should do it," she explained.

I saw her fish around in her jacket pocket before pulling out a drachma. I guess the spray was my job.

Near the deep end of the pool was a small metal faucet sticking from the cement, water pouring from it. I willed the water to shoot sideways, splaying it as it sprayed upward. It was like spraying water from a garden hose, only without having to touch it. Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. I must have had a smug look on my face because Annabeth rolled her eyes at me. "Point it a little more to the left," she said. I moved the water where she said.

"There!" she cried, pointing at the mist. Squinting I saw a small rainbow appear. She threw the drachma at the rainbow.

"O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering," she said.

"Yes?" came a voice from the mist. It sounded irritated and somewhat muffled.

"Um, we saw the ad in the phone book for Rainbow Pizza and wanted to order one," Annabeth said hesitantly. It was slightly odd that Iris sounded a bit on the crankier side.

"Name?" came the irritated voice.

"Annabeth Chase."

"Toppings?" Annabeth turned towards Nico and me.

"Cheese?" she said loudly, shrugging at us.

"Pepperoni!" Nico yelled.

"No need to shout. I haven't lost my hearing," the voice said.

"Sausage," I called.

"Ham!" Nico added.

"Bacon!"

"Beef!"

"Will you two stop it?" Annabeth asked, frowning at us.

"Will that be all?" the voice asked, clearly not pleased with our topping demands.

"Yes," Annabeth said, turning back to the mist.

"Thank you. We will be there shortly."

There was a soft click and the rainbow disappeared. I stopped the water from spraying, giving the drenched side of the main building a grim look.

Moments after we walked back into the hotel room there was a knock on the door.

"That really was fast," Nico said.

He opened the door and a tall, wide-shouldered teenager with a shaved head was standing holding a large pizza box.

"Rainbow Pizza," he said.

His face showed no emotion and, if it wasn't for the brightly colored striped shirt with ripped sleeves he wore he probably would look pretty scary. To some people, of course. Not to me, that is.

"$32.50," he said.

"For a pizza?" I asked, my jaw dropping slightly.

"Hey, you wanted it fast," he said with a shrug.

"Here," Annabeth said, holding out a wad of cash. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"What? Rachel gave it to us, remember?" she asked, taking the pizza from the guy.

"Thanks," the guy said, quickly flipping through the cash. As he turned I could see he had a tattoo of his arm of a small rainbow. When the door was shut we sat down and began scarfing down the pizza. It was definitely worth every penny.

"So," Annabeth began after swallowing a bite of pizza. "Where do we go from here?" The three of us exchanged blank looks.

Good question.

**AN Part 2: I think these last three sentences sum up what I'm currently feeling about this story... um, where DO I go from here? Sigh... back to hitting the Greek Mythology books! RIIIIIGHT after my margarita! :-)**


	11. Annabeth Learns to Tapdance

We started early the next morning feeling like we were in a slight pizza coma. When we stopped by the main office to check out the same blonde woman was at the desk, popping what I'm sure was the same piece of gum.

"Thank you for your stay at Twin Pines Motel. I hope you enjoyed your stay," she said in a bored, monotone voice. I'm sure she was slightly disappointed not to see Apollo was with us. "Please help yourself to our continental breakfast." She pointed, without looking from her magazine, to a small card table lined with donuts, bagels and a container of coffee. Our groans were the only answer we could manage.

We began trekking through San Francisco. I'm not sure why but I was a little disappointed that it still looked the same as it had when I had last been here.

"Do you think we should go to Mount Tamalpais?" Annabeth asked.

"What? No way," I replied. There was no way I was ever setting foot there again. I didn't care if Mount Orthys was destroyed or not; there were too many ways for us to get in trouble up there. "Well then what do you suggest?" Annabeth asked, placing her hands on her hips. The bark of a dog saved me from having to answer.

"Hey boy," Nico said as the dog jumped on him. He scratched the dog's ears, earning him a lick in the face.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry!" a woman cried.

We looked up and saw a tall dark haired woman hurrying towards us. She had on a swimsuit looking outfit, covered in shiny red sparkles and matching shoes. Over the sparkly thing she wore a men's tuxedo jacket, bowtie and top hat. When she reached us she snapped her fingers and the dog immediately sat.

"Hey, nice trick," Nico said, giving the dog a pat on the head.

"Thanks. I'm sorry about him jumping on you. He sometimes runs off," she said with a wide smile. Her eyes roamed over us as if she were studying everything about us.

"Do you kids like magic?" she asked. We exchanged a look.

"Yeah, I guess so," I answered. I wasn't really sure how magic would compare when you had seen the power of gods, but hey, I'm up for some magic tricks. She began to move her arms like she was a dealer at Vegas, showing us that there was nothing up her sleeves. With a quick clap of her hands she reached into her right sleeve and pulled out a bunch of flowers. Although they weren't the fake flowers most magicians pull out of their sleeves; these were real flowers, roses in a bunch of colors. She presented them to me with a flourish and another wide smile.

"For your lovely girl," she said, handing them to me.

"Er, thanks," I said, taking the flowers. I handed them to Annabeth who took them from me with about the same amount of enthusiasm I had taken them from the woman.

"That was a great trick," Annabeth said.

"Thank you. That's only a taste of what you could get," she said, touching the side of her nose. It reminded me of that Christmas poem, where Santa touches his nose before shooting up the chimney.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. She produced a small white card with the same flourish and handed it to me.

"Magical Crossroads Traveling Show," I read. I glanced up. Was she for real? A magic show? "Our final performance is today, eleven o'clock! That card will get you in, VIP seats for being so kind to my dog. Just show it to the attendant at the door and you'll be set for the most magical afternoon of your life!" she said.

"Thanks, but we really can't go to a magic show today," Annabeth started. She was cut off by the woman's narrowed eyes. Her face changed from cheerful to scary in seconds.

"Actually, maybe we can. We'd like that, wouldn't we?" I said, giving Annabeth a slight nudge. "Yeah, come on. It'll be fun!" Nico agreed. The woman's face melted again into a smile. "Wonderful! I will see you then!" She turned and skipped away, wiggling her fingers over her shoulder at us.

"Guys, we don't have time for this! We're on a quest, remember?" Annabeth pointed out.

"We don't have a plan yet, Annabeth. Look, the show starts in less than an hour. We'll go, see how it is so that lady doesn't go crazy on us, then come up with a plan. We won't lose that much time," I said. She rolled her eyes slightly and, with a sigh, agreed.

We reached a large circus tent that was surrounded by people, some waiting in lines to buy tickets, others waiting in line to get in. The show must actually be pretty good for this many people to be here. A large sandwich board sign stood next to the entrance, announcing the line-up. At the very top of the sign in red sparkle lettering was the name "Miss. H. E. Cate, Magician Extraordinaire!" I wondered if that was the woman we had met earlier.

We joined the line at the front entrance and when it was our turn, I handed the man the card the woman had given us. He looked up from the card and peered at us through narrowed eyes. For a moment I thought he was going to throw us out of the line but, just before I started to panic, I saw him thumb over his shoulder.

"VIP entrance is thataway," he said gruffly, handing me back the card. I looked around him and saw a second entrance, mere feet away from where we stood.

"Was that there before?" Annabeth asked as we walked towards it. Nico and I both shrugged.

We walked through the entrance and were instantly welcomed by a brightly dressed man. "Welcome, welcome, welcome! Miss Cate said she was expecting some visitors!" he said cheerfully as he ushered us in. He showed us to a set of seats that were to the right of the main stage inside the tent. When we were settled with peanuts, popcorn, candy and sodas he finally left, allowing us to relax and enjoy the show.

The magic was your average, run of the mill, birthday party magician type stuff. Pulling flowers from sleeves, sawing a woman in half, a handkerchief changing colors; it was all child's play compared to the finale.

The woman we had met earlier, Miss Cate, stepped on to the stage, cheers filling the tent as she bowed to the audience. I saw her sneak a quick look at us, sending a wink our way.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here today! I hope you don't mind if I slip into something more comfortable," she said, this time giving the audience a wink. A changing screen suddenly appeared on stage and she walked behind it. I expected there to be some lull as she stopped for a costume change, but it was as if she never stopped. The audience gasped when she walked out from behind the screen. Not only were her clothes different but her hair as well. It was now blonde, curly. In fact… I glanced at Annabeth.

"What the…" I cried, scrambling to stand. Miss Cate was sitting in Annabeth's seat. I glanced back at the stage. Annabeth stood in the center of it, a panicked look on her face as she glanced between us and the rest of the audience.

"Percy, I don't have much time to explain. I know you're looking for Persephone and you think she's the one who's the kidnapper, but I wanted to let you know that she would never do something like that. She would never leave the Underworld when it wasn't her time," she said. "Who are you?" I asked, reaching into my pocket for my pen.

"Calm your hand, little demigod," Miss Cate said, rolling her eyes and waving her hand. My hand began to burn in my pocket. Pulling it out I scowled at the woman.

"Hecate?" I heard Nico ask behind me. The woman leaned to the side and gave him a little wave. "Hi, Nico," she said with a smile.

"Hecate? The goddess of magic?" I asked. Hecate stood and nodded.

"Magic, crossroads, witchcraft and permanent guest of the Underworld. But here, I'm known as Miss. H. E. Cate. Hecate. I also run a trivia game every other Tuesday if you're interested in playing," she said.

"Why are you warning us about Persephone?" I asked. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Persephone and I are friends. I know her. She wouldn't just leave. I have a feeling she was tricked. Goddess or not, she's still a little… dense," Hecate explained.

"So you're saying Pirithous tricked her into freeing him and leaving the Underworld with him?" Nico asked. Hecate nodded.

"It wouldn't surprise me. You know as well as I do that Hades and Persephone have been fighting. I'm sure all it took was a little convincing, some sweet talking, and she popped Pirithous right off of that chair," she answered.

"So where should we look for her?" I asked. Hecate shook her head.

"She likes flowers, fields, beautiful scenes. I imagine if she was on the loose, not having to visit her mother, she'd find somewhere like that to go. Of course, if she's with Pirithous, I imagine he wants to complete the task he started all those years ago," she said.

"Which was?" I asked. I glanced down at Annabeth on the stage. She was awkwardly doing a tap dance routine, her face beet red.

"She's really not so bad. Maybe if she loosened up," Hecate commented, snapping her fingers. Annabeth's dancing instantly became better.

"Now, to answer your question: if Pirithous did take Persephone, he's going to want to find someone, or something, to stop Hades from interfering. He's going to try to marry her."

**AN: Well, well, well... An update! I hope you're as happy as I am! I figured since I needed a major break from editing my book and my deadline to finish editing isn't until next week I'd take some time to update on here. I also finally figured out somewhat of a plot after reading pages and pages of mythology. So woohoo! Maybe this story will get finished after all! :)**


	12. We Decide to Steal a Boat

**AN: Kind of longerish Author's Note at the bottom... I hope you'll read it. **

My jaw hung slightly open as Nico and I stared dumbfounded at Hecate. What did she mean Pirithous was going to try to marry Persephone? Was he crazy? Did he want the fury of the gods upon him? The sound of eruptions of laughter was almost lost on my ears. Almost. I looked back at the stage and saw Annabeth was now out of control. Even from where we sat I could see her eyes were full of tears, her face was beet red.

"Come on, stop it," I said through gritted teeth. With a small pout Hecate snapped her fingers and Annabeth disappeared from the stage in a poof of smoke, replaced by a grumpy looking man holding a clipboard.

"Where did she go?" I asked. Hecate spun with a flourish and moved to the deep red curtain that surrounded our section.

"Tada!" she said with a wide smile as she pulled the curtain back. Annabeth stood behind it. I'm pretty certain I hadn't seen her that mad in… well in a long while.

"How dare you!" Annabeth hissed as she stomped away from the curtain. "I have never been that embarrassed in my entire life!" Hecate made a "tut-tut" sound and reached to pat Annabeth on her head.

"You're young," she replied with a slightly malicious grin. Annabeth turned to me, her eyes blazing.

"I told you it we shouldn't have come here. But oh no, we had to see a magic show," she said angrily.

"Well it hasn't been a complete waste of time. We found out some stuff," Nico pointed out. Poor kid. He obviously didn't know when to keep quiet around an angry woman.

"Oh? And what was that? That I'm not a tap-dancer?" Annabeth spat.

"I personally think you did rather well," Hecate said nonchalantly as she inspected her nails. I grabbed Annabeth around the waist, holding her back before she could pounce on the goddess. Hecate glanced up and giggled, rolling her eyes at us.

"You demigods, always ready to pounce whenever a tiny joke is played on you. But no matter. I urge you to find Persephone before she's forced to marry," Hecate said, her joking manner disappearing. Annabeth went still in my arms.

"What do you mean, force to marry? She can't be forced to marry since she's already married," she said. Hecate seemed to ignore her as she stared intently at me.

"Remember what I said. Find out what Pirithous is up to. I don't think the world could stand it again if Demeter lost Persephone again. Hades only keeps her for six months; Pirithous would keep her all year," Hecate warned. She walked to the curtain and pulled it back, shooting a glance over her shoulder.

"You could always ask one of my kids," she said, giving us a wink. When she was gone we all stood in silence, matching dumb looks on our faces. I noticed that Nico's face was turning pink.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"That girl from the Hecate cabin… Do you think she knows her name?" he asked. I gave him a "you're crazy" look before turning back to Annabeth. She seemed to have on her thinking cap, which I'm sure never really left her head. I swear I could see the wheels turning in there.

"Her children? Why would she mention her children?" she muttered. Just then, it was like lightening had hit us all at once as we realized just who her children were. Well, one of them anyway.

"Circe," I said.

* * *

It was an hour later before any of us spoke. We were sitting on a bench in the middle of a park when Annabeth stood up.

"This is pointless! We're not going back to see Circe," she said.

"What's so wrong with her?" Nico asked. I had forgotten we hadn't met him yet when we first met Circe. Annabeth scowled.

"Did you not see what Hecate did to me in there? Imagine what her children can do," she said.

"Circe turned me into a guinea pig and gave Annabeth a spa treatment," I explained. Nico raised an eyebrow at Annabeth before snickering.

"I can see why she hates her," he chuckled. I struggled to hide a smile before glancing at Annabeth. As someone who hated to be pampered and dress up I imagine being tortured with beauty supplies probably wasn't too great for her. Annabeth's scowl grew scarier as she glared at Nico. I sighed.

"Annabeth, what choice do we have? We don't have any other clues. Clearly we're at a dead end," I said. Annabeth's face changed from a scowl to a frown. I could tell she was giving in.

"Alright, fine, we'll go. But how do you suggest we get there? Do you even remember what happened last time?" she asked. I chewed on the inside of my mouth. Yeah, I did remember what happened last time. Scylla and Charybdis. Exploding ships. Nearly dying. Yeah, I did remember.

"We don't even have a ship," she pointed out.

"Wait a minute!" I said. I grabbed my backpack and began digging through it. My fingers brushed across the soft, slightly slimy surface of the keychain my dad had given me. I pulled it out, jingling the keys slightly. "

We have a boat," I said proudly.

"Yeah, but where is it?" Nico asked. Crap. Since when did he become the logical one of the group?

"Well, I dunno. It's got to be somewhere though," I said, shrugging slightly. Annabeth's forehead scrunched up.

"Let me see them," she said, holding her hand out. I handed them to her and she started turning them over, inspecting them it looked like.

"So what was it like being a guinea pig?" Nico asked. I scowled.

"Not one of my better moments, let's just leave it at that," I replied. Even now I still sometimes got a little sick at the smell of cedar chips.

"Pier 70," Annabeth said suddenly.

"Huh?" Nico and I both said. Annabeth held up the keys, jingling them slightly.

"The boat. It's at Pier 70," she said proudly.

"And you know this because…" I trailed off. There was no way she could have deducted that from a slimy set of keys. I don't care who her mom is.

"It says it on the key chain," she said. I grabbed them from her. Printed in slightly scraped off blue lettering was "Triton: Pier 70."

"So we need to go find this boat?" Nico asked. I glanced at Annabeth. As usual the cogs in her brain were spinning. Her face changed from a scowl to a frown back to a scowl before falling with a sigh.

"Yes, I guess we need to. I don't know what Circe could possibly tell us, but as you said Percy: we don't have any other clues," she said.

* * *

Annabeth paid the cab driver as we stepped out of a smelly yellow taxi. Apparently taxis were just as bad in San Francisco as they were in New York City. I stood at the entrance to Pier 70. In the dim evening light it looked, well, creepy. Old buildings lined the street, rusted over slightly. In the water there were huge ships, cranes, all sorts of things.

"Why would anyone have a boat here?" Nico asked. I shrugged.

"Hopefully one of those out there isn't Dad's," I said, pointing to the huge liners that were docked.

"Come on," Annabeth said, walking past us and pulling the hood of her jacket over her head. We followed her down the dock, which looked pretty questionable, until we were over the water. I could hear the wood beneath us groaning from our weight. I instinctively grabbed Annabeth's arm, pulling her to me. I half expected a frown, but she held my hand tightly.

"Look there!" she cried, pointing in the distance. A small yacht-like boat bobbed in the water, tied to a pylon in the water. I squinted at it; painted in dark blue on the back was the word "Triton."

"So how are we going to get it?" Nico asked. I judged the distance from the dock to the boat. I could make it, easily. Just hop in the water, climb on the boat, no problem. A loud splash caught my attention. Glancing at it I saw a fish tail. No, make that two tails.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked, pointing at the ripples in the water. We stared at the water for several long moments but nothing seemed to appear.

"Maybe it's gone," I said.

"So how are we getting the boat?" Nico asked again.

"I've got it," I said, kicking off my shoes. I jumped in and began swimming towards the boat. Thank goodness the water doesn't bother me; I'd hate to walk around in icy wet clothes the rest of the day. I was feet away from the boat when I felt something brush against my foot. Stopping, I turned, dunking under and searching the dark water. From behind me I felt a rush of water pass me and spun myself around to see nothing.

I kicked up, breaking through the surface of the water. I waved back at Annabeth and Nico, hoping they wouldn't worry, when something clamped around my foot. Before I could pull away I was being dragged underwater, deeper than I was before. I struggled to pull my foot away but whatever had me was refusing to let go.

I looked down and saw an eerie green arm held my foot. Familiar black hair floated in the water. With a swift kick, my other foot landed on the arm, knocking it away. The arm's body, half man, half fish, swam up to me, staring me in the eye with a scowl. I glanced down and saw his two tails. I scowled back at him. This was not my favorite person.

"Hello, little brother," he said. "Come to steal my boat?"

**AN2: Can I just say how AWESOME you all are for all of your great reviews? Some of them are really funny, too! Couple of questions a few people had that I wanted to answer though, in case others are wondering the same thing.**  
**Hecate isn't necessarily BAD... but as you can see from the previous chapter she's not exactly the nicest goddess out there. After researching her some - well, researching Persephone really - I found out that she was supposed to be Persephone's friend and that Hades had let her be a permanent guest... or something like that. It also was supposedly Hecate who told Demeter (Persephone's mom) that her daughter had been stolen... but only AFTER the fact. So I wanted to use her as a good character... but who wasn't very nice. **  
**No... I am NOT Rick Riordan's son... considering I'm a girl. But I'm glad you think I'm able to write similarly to him! Makes me happy. Major kudos to me! :-)**

**Also, can I just point out how much MORE I enjoy writing fanfiction than my own book? It's so much easier to write about already developed characters/worlds/situations/whatever. I swear... I've probably written and rewritten my book a bajillion times! Argh! It's frustrating!**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy! Lotsa love to my readers!**


	13. Our Journey Begins Again

**My profound apologies...**

"What are you doing here?" I asked, pulling my foot from him.

"I could ask you the same thing," Triton sneered.

"What are you doing stealing my boat?"

"Your boat? How was I supposed to know it's your boat? Dad gave me the key to it," I said, holding up the keychain. If you've ever had a conversation under water – which I'm sure you haven't unless you've hung out with a son or daughter of Poseidon – it would probably sound like "blruba alupbr pruba." But fortunately for me and my half brother we were able to understand each other perfectly. Not that it would make any difference. He'd still act this way whether we could or not.

"What? Let me see those!" Triton demanded. Before I could react he grabbed the key from my hand.

"Hey!" I yelled. I moved towards him only to be met with the sharp end of the trident he always carried. I half suspected he never left home without it just to show that he was the son of Poseidon, but we all know who Dad's favorite is.

"Why would he give you this?" he asked, his eyes narrowing at me, ignoring me as I tried to push the trident away. It wouldn't budge. I wasn't worried it could hurt me but who wants a three-pronged spear pointing at their throat?

"I'm on a quest," I said. Triton snorted. I wonder if water got up his nose when he did.

"Again? Didn't you just finish one?" he asked, removing his trident and tossing the key back to me. I caught it just before it began to sink.

"I only saved the world you know," I corrected, pocketing the key before he could get it again.

"So why my boat? Can't you just swim? Any self-respecting son of Poseidon would do that," he said. His nose seemed to sneer every time he spoke. I fought the urge to roll my eyes, among other things, before replying.

"I could, but why should I when there's a perfectly good boat that I can use?"

Triton's eyes flared. Maybe I shouldn't tick off a god. Then again, I could say he started it.

"You would think he would tell his own son and heir that he gave away the key to my boat," Triton started, his empty hand clenching and unclenching. I braced myself for whatever might come. With a deep sigh he relaxed. "Fine, take it. What are you going after this time?"

"Persephone is missing," I said. He didn't look surprised. Which surprised me.

"I thought I heard talk of that. Didn't think she'd take to the water though."

"We ran into Hecate who told us to go see Circe," I explained. Triton raised an eyebrow and snorted again.  
"Tough break little brother. Circe hasn't been in the best of moods since… well I guess since you last saw her. I hear you pretty much destroyed everything she had there," he said with a chuckle.

"I didn't…" I trailed off. I forgot about the pirates. I'm not sure if I really want to go see a witch with a bone to pick with me.

"Keep telling yourself that. Maybe she'll go easy on you. Good luck," he said. Before I could reply he had turned and was swimming away. I treaded water for several seconds until all I could see were the faint bubbles that followed his swishing tails. Pushing myself up, I shot through the water until I broke the surface.

"Percy!" I heard Annabeth scream. Turning back towards the dock I saw her kneeling on the pier. Even from where I was I could see her face looked panicked.

"I'm okay!" I yelled back. I swam toward the boat and grabbed onto the rungs of a ladder that extended into the water. When I reached the deck of the boat I quickly looked it over. Not too complicated. I had sailed worse.

Sticking the key in the ignition I cranked it up. Easier than starting a car. The low hum of the boat told me it was ready so I rose the anchor and steered the boat towards the dock. As I maneuvered it closer I slowed, carefully getting as close to the dock as possible. There was a small gangplank that attached to the side. After stalling the boat I settled the gangplank in place and lowered it to the dock.

"Welcome aboard the Triton," I said gallantly, sweeping my hand in front of me. Before I can lower it I'm hit by a whirl of my girlfriend wrapping her arms around me.

"Percy I was so scared when you went under! What was it? Are you okay? What happened?" she asked frantically, her words almost running together. I exchanged a shocked look with Nico, who quickly snickered as he boarded the boat.

"Thanks Captain Percy," he laughed, tossing his and my packs onto one of the leather seats that lined the back of the boat.

"Make your self helpful Mr. Nico and pull in the gangplank," I said in my best ship captain's voice. While he did that I pulled Annabeth towards the steering wheel, rubbing her back as we moved. I wasn't sure what bothered me more, the fact that she was worried or the fact that she was literally shaking from fear.

"Annabeth, you know I can't be hurt, especially underwater," I said in a low voice. I could see her gulp as she nodded.

"I know. Doesn't mean I can't worry when my boyfriend's pulled underwater and I can't do anything about it," she said. I moved a piece of her hair back, a small piece that had escaped her ponytail. Her eyes were red rimmed making the grayness of them stand out even more.

"I'm okay. I promise. Just a little family reunion," I said, trying lighten the situation.

"What family?" Nico asked.

"My half brother Triton showed up. Apparently this is his boat," I answered as Annabeth stepped away from me.

"Glad he didn't mind," Nico said. He settled in on one of the seats as I put the boat back in drive.

"Oh, he minded alright," I muttered.

* * *

Hours later we were miles away from San Francisco, into the Pacific Ocean. The sun was high in the sky, shining down on us. I couldn't be completely sure, but if I had to guess, I would say we were coming up on Mexico. Nico was stretched out on the seat, his knee drawn up and an arm tossed over his eyes. Annabeth was curled up, her thick book in her lap.

"Hey, want to come steer?" I asked. She glanced up, her eyes drawing together confused.

"I don't know how," she said.

"You can drive a car, right?" I asked. She nodded.

"My dad taught me last summer," she replied. She stood and closed her book, stretching back. I smiled at her. My cheeks heated up when I saw she caught me starting. "I thought we said no more of that," she said teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah. Come here," I said, stepping back from the steering wheel and holding my hand out to her. She took my hand and I pulled her closer, letting her take my spot.

"What do I do first?" she asked.

"First you place your hands on the wheel," I said, picking up both her hands and placing them at 10 and 2.

"Well I figured that much out," she laughed. I laughed with her. It was nice, standing behind her, on the water. With Nico asleep I could pretend it was just us. "Now what?"

"Now, you drive. Or steer," I said. I placed my hands on hers, gently guiding the boat left and right some, letting her get used to the way the boat moved. After several moments she leaned back, her back resting on my chest. I let my chin rest of her head, moving slightly to kiss the top of it before setting back.

"This is easy," she said. Her voice sounded happier than it had in days. I laughed and stepped back, moving my hands from hers.

"Well, since you're such a natural I think I'm going to kick back and enjoy the ride," I said. I took her spot on the bench and stacked my hands behind my head. She turned to me, her eyes widening.

"What if something happens? What if I run into something or go the wrong way?" she asked. I smiled at her and shook my head.

"Annabeth, we're in the middle of the ocean. There's not a whole lot you can run into. And don't worry about going the wrong way. I'll know if we're still on course," I said. She frowned slightly at me before laughing and turning back to the wheel.

"Whatever you say, Seaweed Brain."

* * *

We sailed on for several days like this, each of us taking turns at the helm, laughing, relaxing in the sun. I almost forgot we were on a quest. There was a small cabin below the deck that had a bed and cabinets stocked with food. My dad's handiwork if I had to guess. It wasn't long before I began to sense the water changing, merging from the Pacific Ocean into the Gulf of Mexico. I knew we were close.

Annabeth had discovered a map in my backpack the day after we had started our voyage. It began to come to life as the water changed, noting the different islands of the region. They were different than the ones that I remember studying in school. It wasn't long before Circe's Island showed up. And according to the map, we were nearly there.

**AN: So yeah... hello out there? Anyone still with us? I didn't realize it had been so long since I last updated this thing! Wowzers! But in my defense I DO have a good excuse...**

**An agent showed slight interest in my book, so I've been focusing on that mostly. But hey, yay for me for having someone say they were interested in my book! **

**I've also been reading like CRAZY! If you, like me, like to venture outside the FanFiction realm (which I hope you do!) here are some of the books that I've been reading this summer and hope you'll give them a try... and if you've already read them, great minds think alike! Wither (currently reading) by Lauren DeStefano; The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins; The Forest of Hands and Teeth Trilogy (seriously, who would have thought I'd love some zombie books?) by Carrie Ryan; Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini (my new favorite); Bossypants by Tina Fey (grown ups only!); and finally, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. **

**I've read several others as well, but those are just to name a few! Happy reading and for those of you about to head on back to school, hope your summer was great!**


	14. The Vague Warning a la Pirate

It was dusk when the bumpy outline of an island came into view on the distant horizon. The sky was grey, that dull nothing color that I knew signaled the beginning of something not so good. Behind the boat the sun was sinking and we were losing light. Fast.

"Is that it?" Nico asked. I glanced at Annabeth from the wheel. She was bent over the map, studying it.

"Yeah, it is. The map shows us heading straight towards something though," she replied, holding the map up for us to see. A small swirl had appeared right in the middle of our course, blocking us from reaching the island. "You don't think it's Charybdis do you?"

Boy, I hope not.

"No, it can't be. We're nowhere near that area," Annabeth muttered, pulling the map back to look at again. She was right. Before when we had encountered Charybdis, and her best bud Scylla, we had been in the Bermuda Triangle.

"Do you think it could be a storm?" Nico asked. I glanced towards the island and narrowed my eyes. The sky did seem to be getting darker.

"That would be logical," Annabeth said slowly. I felt her fingers on my elbow. "What do we do?"

"If it is a storm you two should probably go below. We'll just have to ride it out," I said, leaving out that hopefully the boat wouldn't go down. A crash of thunder sounded in the distance. In front of us I could see the wall of rain that was coming down from the sky. We were heading straight into it. "Go on below. I'll be fine up here," I said, pushing Annabeth gently towards the cabin. She shot me a worried glance. "I'll be fine," I repeated.

She and Nico both went into the cabin, shutting the door behind them. I said a quick prayer to my dad, asking him to help me and braced myself for the storm.

The rain hit the boat's deck, sounding like thousands of tiny stones hitting metal. It was loud, making my head hurt. I cut the boat's motor and tried to keep us straight. Luckily my directional senses were still perfect in the storm otherwise we might have ended up… I didn't want to think about that.

The boat was getting harder to steer. My arms were beginning to burn from keeping the wheel straight.

"Percy!" I heard Annabeth cry, her voice faint in the storm. I whipped my head towards the sound and saw her standing in front of the cabin door.

"What are you doing? Go back down there!" I yelled, waving my arm at her.

"No!" she yelled back, moving towards me. I let out a noise of frustration and reached for her, grabbing her and pulling her towards me. The last thing I wanted, or needed, was for Annabeth to go under. I put her in front of me, like we had stood before, as I placed both of my hands back on the wheel.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked again.

"Nico was sick. I couldn't stay in there any longer," she said. I could barely hear her over the sound of the storm. I snickered. Despite all of this, the storm, the hopeless feeling quest, it was nice just to laugh.

"Look!" Annabeth cried, pointing in front of us. I squinted at where she was pointing. In the distance a bright light shone, shimmering through the rain. "What is it?"

"I don't know," I answered. It seemed to be getting bigger and brighter as we sailed through the storm. I was so focused on the light when the wave of water hit the side of our boat it nearly knocked me over. Annabeth slipped and grabbed onto my arm. The wheel spun and I barely managed to grab it before the boat began to turn.

"Sorry," she said as she regained her balance. I wrapped my arm around her waist, holding her close to me, as I righted the boat. It seemed easier now, the water putting up less resistance. Looking ahead the light had grown even brighter and the rain, which had pelted us before, had seemed to slacken. It was barely a drizzle. As quick as the storm had started it had stopped. The wave must have just been the end of it.

"We're here," Annabeth said, stepping away from me. She was right; about a hundred yards away from us was the shore of Circe's island. And standing in the middle of it was a very angry looking woman.

* * *

"Well, if it isn't the two demigod brats that ruined my island," Circe screeched as the boat hit the shore. Her eyes blazed, dark and scary. She looked about the same as the last time I saw her, but worn down somehow. In the distance I could see what looked like remnants of the day spa she had run.

"We didn't ruin anything," Annabeth said with a touch of anger in her voice. I'm sure she was still mad from being given a makeover last time. Gods know I was still mad over being turned into a guinea pig, which, in my opinion, was a lot worse than someone pampering you.

"Oh, no, you didn't ruin anything!" Circe said, her voice sickeningly sweet. The kind of voice that made me nervous. The kind of voice that screams "run!" "You only let a bunch of pirates loose on my island and they destroyed the place!"

"Well it's not our fault you kept them prisoner and they were mad. You shouldn't have turned them into guinea pigs!" Annabeth retorted. Circe let out a little growl of anger and clenched her fists.

"What are you doing here again?" she asked. Annabeth started to speak but I put my hand over her mouth before she could get any more words out. I think she had angered Circe enough.

"Hecate sent us," I said. Circe's eyes narrowed.

"My mother? Why would she send you here?" she asked.

"Persephone is missing. Hecate seems to think that Pirithous convinced her to leave the Underworld," I explained. I purposely left out the part about him trying to convince her to marry him. I didn't trust Circe for all the drachmas in the world. Circe's face seemed to brighten at the mention of Persephone.

"Funny you mention her," she started, twirling a lock of her hair around one of her fingers. Her face softened, became beautiful again. "I got a letter from her just earlier today. I haven't opened it yet because I saw I was going to have company. Won't you come in for something to eat and drink and we'll open the letter together?"

She held out her hand towards Nico, inviting him to take it. I glanced at him and scowled. From the look on his face I could tell that he was falling for her tricks just as I had the last time we were here. As Nico reach for her hand I shot my arm across his chest, stopping him.

"No tricks this time. We don't have time to be turned into guinea pigs," I warned. Circe gave a small laugh and shook her head.

"No, no, of course not. No tricks," she said innocently, holding her hands up in front of her. "Just follow me."

We followed her up the beach and towards the remaining buildings of her spa. Standing at the front of the dilapidated entrance was Circe's assistant, Hylla, holding a tray of cups. My guess was guinea pig punch.

"Put that away Hylla. These demigods don't want any of our refreshments," Circe said lightly. Hylla frowned and nodded, placing the tray on a nearby table. Circe turned to her and whispered, earning another quick nod from Hylla. "Perhaps you three would like to freshen up a bit first though? Coming out of a storm like that you are most likely soaked to the bone."

I exchanged a look with Annabeth and Nico and gave them a small shrug. Annabeth gave me a small scowl but nodded in agreement.

"That would be nice. Thank you," she said to Circe, who clapped her hands excitedly.

"Wonderful! If you would just follow Hylla she'll show you to a room where you can change."

We followed Hylla as instructed through the dilapidated spa. I remember it was much nicer than this, nicer than the cracked marble columns and mold-covered ceiling. I felt a little bad, especially considering we were the reason Blackbeard and his crew had destroyed the place. Wait a minute. She did make them mad by turning them into guinea pigs. I snorted a laugh, earning a sharp look from Hylla shot over her shoulder.

"In here," she said, pushing open a door at the end of a corridor. We slunk in past her into the dimly lit room. There were sky lights in the ceiling, casting rays of sun into the otherwise windowless room. Against the wall were two beds with marble headboards. "This will be for the boys. My dear," Hylla said with a slight sneer at Annabeth. "I believe you remember the room you stayed in before?"

I saw Annabeth's eyes widen in surprise. I didn't like this. We shouldn't be split up. Annabeth squared her shoulders and nodded. I felt her hand slip into mine and give it a slight squeeze before she followed Hylla.

The door had barely shut behind them when a sharp rap sounded and the door flung open. A short, stout, stumpy man slunk in. Try saying that three times fast. He wore a flimsy white shirt with brown pants, pirate like, and held a cup in his hand. My hand instinctively went to my pocket where my pen was, ready just in case. The man must have caught the movement because he grinned. His teeth were clean, but I could see some were missing.

"Very wise, m'boy," he cackled. "Very wise indeed."

"What's wise?" I asked. I narrowed my eyes at him. The man's eyes darted right and then back to me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Nico holding his own sword, black and menacing. The man cackled again before replying.

"Wise to be ready. You're in grave danger here."

**AN: Dun dun dunnnnnnnn! *crickets* **

**If I get at least 5 reviews today I'll post the next chapter tomorrow! Incentive folks, incentive!** Ack, I've become one of those people who begs for reviews! Ah, well...


	15. We're Invited to a Wedding

Later in the evening Nico and I met Annabeth outside of our room. Hylla had invited us to dinner with Circe. As Annabeth walked towards us I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling. It looked like she had been subjected to another makeover. Although this time…

"Whoa," Nico said. He sounded shocked. I saw Annabeth roll her eyes and grin. Not the reaction I was expecting. She was wearing a chiton which I always think looks great on her. And her hair was doing this curl thing that looked awesome. I think what was getting me was the fact that she looked happy. The last time we were here and she got this made up she looked pretty mad.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, slipping her arm into mine. When she glanced up at me my jaw dropped. What had Circe done to her? "Don't get too used to it, Seaweed Brain," she said teasingly. She leaned up and kissed my cheek.

I heard Nico gagging behind us. Annabeth's hand tightened on my arm as I started to turn towards him. He lucked out; I was ready to punch him.

We walked through the crumbling spa towards a long room. A makeshift set of table and chairs was set up in the center of the room, hundreds of candles illuminating it and casting glowing shadows on the walls and ceiling. Circe stood at the front of the room, dressed to the nines. Why? I have no idea. It's not as if I'm going to fall for her again. Not with Annabeth holding onto my arm and looking way more beautiful than her. It hit me that I hadn't told Annabeth what I thought of her new look. I leaned down to tell her when Circe spoke.

"Welcome! It's about time you sleepy heads woke up!" she said, her voice laughing and light. It put me on edge. "Come, come," she said, clapping her hands. "Let's all sit down and discuss our little Persephone problem."

She held up a large cream colored envelope, waving it slightly like she was excited about it or something. Annabeth nudged me and motioned with her head towards the table when I looked at her. I pulled out one of the chairs, smooth-like, for Annabeth. I caught her grin as she sat down, scooting forward with the chair. I hurried to sit next to her when I heard someone clearing her throat. I looked up and saw Circe standing behind her chair at the head of the table, her eyes glaring at me expectedly. I froze. Did she really think I was going to help her with her chair? Should I help her with her chair? I probably should. She is pretty.

The scraping of the chair moving broke my trance. I narrowed my eyes as I saw Nico helping her with her chair. I knew the look he wore on his face. He had fallen for her, just like I had three years ago.

"My, my, such manners from a child of Hades. No wonder Mom likes it down there," Circe said with a little wink to Nico. His pale skin turned pink as he sat in his own chair.

"I imagine your mom likes it down there so much because of Persephone, not because of the manners taught," Annabeth said lightly, her voice tinged with sarcasm.

"Hmph," Circe made a noise. "Shows how much you know." She smiled tightly at Annabeth's scowl and pulled a long dagger-like object from her dress. My hand reached in my pocket, ready to uncap Riptide. Circe must have noticed my movement because her smile relaxed and looked more natural.

"Calm down. I'm just opening the letter," she said. She slid the tip of the dagger – excuse me, letter opener – under the edge of the envelope and slit it open. "See?" She pulled out a large cream colored card, the fancy kind that matches the envelope, and began to read. Her facial expression changed from calm to shock to disgust to… well it looked like anger. All in a matter of seconds. Before I knew it those blazing eyes were turned to us.

"Did you three know about this?" she asked angrily.

"Know about what?" Annabeth retorted. This was not going as smoothly as I had hoped. If anyone could match the anger of the gods, I'm sure it's my girlfriend.

"The wedding?" Circe said, accusingly. The three of us exchanged worried glances. I felt the blood rush from my head. This really was bad. Very bad.

"She can't do this! Hylla!" Circe screamed. Hylla appeared from nowhere, a bored look on her face. Apparently she was used to what looked like a goddess-sized temper tantrum. "Get my mother. Now!" Circe stormed out of the room, Hylla following behind quickly, fishing through her pockets for what I'm sure was a drachma to send an Iris message.

"She can't do this," Annabeth said, standing and snatching the invitation from where it lay on the table.

"What does it say?" Nico asked.

Annabeth began reading the invitation smoothly.

_"Your presence is requested to share in the celebration of the long awaited nuptials of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, and Pirithous, Former King of the Lapiths. Ceremony to begin at sundown on the 31st day of December in the Garden. Reception to follow. Please RSVP."_

Annabeth glanced up when she finished reading. "December 31st?" she said. I did some quick thinking.

"That's in two days!" I shouted. Why do the gods always have to cut things so darn close?

"What garden?" Nico asked. Annabeth shook her head.

"I don't know. It just says "the Garden." She paused, her brow furrowing in thought. We were silent for a split moment before her eyes widened. "You don't think it means the Garden of the Hesperides, do you?"

"No," I said slowly. Not disagreeing though. I just didn't want to go back to that particular garden.

"I can't believe she would do something like that. It's a total slap in the face to the gods!" Annabeth said, crumbling the invitation in her hand.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked.

"The Garden of the Hesperides is where Hera and Zeus married. Gaea gave her an apple tree as a wedding gift. That's what grows in the garden," Annabeth explained.

"I think I know why they chose that spot," I said. Everything seemed to be clicking now. The wedding, the garden… the apples. "Pirithous is going to try to get one of the apples. He'll be immortal if he eats one of them. Marrying Persephone is just a sham so he can become immortal."

"But why Persephone? Why not a minor goddess?" Nico asked. He seemed pretty upset about this. I know Persephone is kind of like his stepmom, but I didn't think he liked her that much. "Why trick the Lord of the Underworld's wife and risk all of this?"

"I guess he saw an opportunity. Pirithous wasn't exactly the best man out there. He probably saw that she was unhappy, she had just had a fight with Hades; he must have thought it was the time to make his move," Annabeth suggested. I had another theory.

"Or maybe he was still ticked off about Hades gluing him to a chair for eternity and wanted to finish what he started thousands of years ago and marry Persephone."

We were all silent. There was a small drip sound. Staring at the makeshift room, the destruction the pirates had caused, I began to feel slightly bad for what had happened here. Note: slightly.

"So what are we going to do?" Nico asked. I glanced at the crumpled invitation in Annabeth's hand before answering him.

"Put on your Sunday best. Looks like we're going to a wedding."

**AN: Yeah, yeah... What can I say? Work sucks! I'll try to do better...**


	16. We Encounter a Small Spell

A hand clamping on down over my mouth woke me up. I thrashed around, trying to free my hand that was tangled in the sheets while grabbing at the hand on my face.

"Shh! It's me, Seaweed Brain!" I heard Annabeth hiss. I stopped moving and opened my eyes wider. As they began to focus I could see her outline in the moonlight that came through the hole in the ceiling. I pulled her hand away from my mouth.

"What are you doing in here? Is something wrong?" I asked. She shook her head no.

"Come with me," she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me. I threw back the sheets, not asking why, and climbed out of bed. I didn't even bother to look back at Nico. Right then, he didn't even exist.

Annabeth and I walked slowly through the dilapidated building. I could only focus on her, the way she moved in the long white dress she was wearing; the way the moonlight that shown through the windows and holes in the ceiling illuminated her hair. I smiled every time she glanced over her shoulder at me, her gray eyes dancing. I didn't realize where she was taking me until my feet were wet, a wave lapping at them.

"What are we doing out here?" I asked, breaking out of my Annabeth-induced trance. She wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling herself closer.

"I wanted to be alone for a minute," she said, breathing her words against my ear. Now, normally this type of behavior from my girlfriend should send off warnings. But tonight, it didn't. I don't know what had come over her, but I wasn't complaining.

"Alone for what?" I asked. She leaned her head back and looked at me funny, a smile growing on her face. I could feel the water rushing over my feet, soaking the hem of my jeans. I felt something brush over my feet and glanced down. The dress Annabeth was wearing was flowing in the water as it went up and over the shore. I felt her put her hand on the side of my face.

"For this," she whispered, leaning in closer. I closed my eyes as her lips lightly brushed against mine before kissing her back. The kiss was different, stranger somehow, than it normally is. This was a whole new Annabeth and I couldn't decide if I liked her.

Her arms tightened around my neck and I felt my own arms wind around her waist, drawing her closer to me. In the far distance I could hear thunder but ignored it. The heck with it. I didn't want to focus on anything but the girl in my arms. The water seemed to get higher around our feet, colder, but it didn't bother me. It didn't seem to bother Annabeth either. She just continued to kiss me, holding onto me tightly, ignoring the water just as I was.

We continued to kiss until the water was knee-level. A wave hit my knees, knocking me to the side slightly, alerting me how deep we were. I hadn't felt us move an inch but when I pulled away from Annabeth I noticed we were several yards from the shore.

A second wave hit us, this time larger than the first. It nearly knocked Annabeth over. She let out a tiny yelp and grabbed onto me, her fingers digging into my shoulder. I steadied her and noticed a small flash go across her eyes. It was as if her irises lit up and then dimmed back into the cool gray they had always been. A wave of confusion washed over her face and she put her hand to her head.

"What are we doing out here?" she asked. It was my turn to be confused.

"What are you talking about? You brought me out here," I argued. She shook her head sharply.

"No I didn't. The last thing I remember was being in bed," she said. I saw her shiver slightly.

"Come on. We can argue about this inside," I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her with me out of the water. We were feet from the shore when I felt a sharp tug on my hand. I turned and saw Annabeth in the water. Had the water not turned rough and stormy it would have been kind of cute. Her hair was stringy in her face as she tried to push it away and climb up at the same time. With a small snort I reached down and pulled her up, helping her to the shore. When our feet finally touched the dry sand we stopped walking. I saw she was shivering and pulled off the hoodie I was wearing.

"Thanks," she said through chattering teeth, as I wrapped it around her shoulders. "I still don't understand why we're out here."

"You don't remember anything?" I asked. Well that's disappointing. Even in the dim light I could see Annabeth's face turn pink

"I thought it was just a dream," she said, pulling the hoodie closer to her. I began rubbing her arms, hoping to create some heat from the friction.

"What was?" I asked. I had a feeling she was talking about the kissing, but I wasn't going to let her off the hook that easily.

"We were kissing. It was nice," she said. A funny look came over her face when she looked at me. I'm pretty sure mine looked the same. I leaned forward and kissed her again, pulling her close to me.

"Yeah, that's what it was like," she said with a small laugh when we pulled away. I leaned in again. A sudden scream stopped me. I saw Annabeth's eyes widen before we both glanced back at the spa.

"Nico!" I said, digging into my pocket for Riptide. Annabeth's hand grabbed my arm.

"That wasn't Nico. It was a woman screaming," she argued.

"Stay here," I told her and began racing towards the spa.

"Yeah right!" I heard her yell behind me. I could hear her feet slapping in the sand, close on my heels.

We rushed through the doors of the spa and entered what looked to be like complete chaos. Nico was standing in the middle of a pile of rubble (it looked new), his dark sword drawn and looking like he was still asleep. Hylla was standing in the doorway, her hands wringing like an old distraught lady. From every corner of the hall came smoke, tiny flames still burning here and there.

"What happened?" I asked. Nico rubbed his face before shaking his head.

"I dunno. I heard a loud noise and ran in here. Then something exploded and she screamed," he explained. Some answer.

"She left! She came here and took her and left!" Hylla cried. She shoved her hands in her hair frantically.

"What? Who left? Who came?" Annabeth asked.

"Circe, she's gone. She left with… with…" Hylla couldn't continue. Annabeth marched to her, grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"Get a grip! What happened?" Annabeth demanded. Hylla instantly stopped panicking and scowled at Annabeth.

"Persephone, the happy bride herself, came here and took Circe. She said something about a bridesmaid or sacrifice, I really don't remember. I was too concerned about the explosions," Hylla explained, her voice hard and scary.

"Why would Persephone take Circe?" I asked.

"Wait, isn't the more important thing the fact that Persephone was here?" Nico demanded.

"Did she say where they were going?" Annabeth asked.

"Please!" Hylla screamed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Did you not hear me? Explosions!"

"Hylla, please; we have to know. Why would Persephone take Circe?" I asked again, hoping to calm her down.

"Circe is a witch, plain and simple. Yes, her mother could help Persephone out, but I have a feeling it's easier to capture the child of a goddess than the goddess herself. Persephone tricked Circe into putting that spell on you-"she stopped, covering her mouth with a hand.

"What spell?" Annabeth asked, her eyes narrowing at Hylla.

"I shouldn't have said anything," she said softly.

"What spell?"Annabeth shouted.

"Fine!" Hylla yelled back. "Persephone tricked Circe into putting a spell on you Annabeth to make you desperately in love with Percy. Percy, she put a spell on you to make you willingly go with Annabeth, no questions asked. She thought that with the two of you out of the way, things would be easier."

"Out of the way how?" I asked. I felt Annabeth clench my hand.

"Percy, we were halfway out in the water before we woke up," she explained softly.

"So? It's not like I would have drowned," I argued. Annabeth shook her head.

"The water must have revitalized you and broken the spell," she said.

"But Persephone must have known drowning me wouldn't have worked. Surely she knew that," I guessed.

"She would have known. She's not stupid. She must not have wanted you gone," Nico said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"She had Circe put the spell on you, hoping to drown you, but she knew that the spell wouldn't work once you were out in the water," he explained.

"Persephone must realize what she's doing is wrong. Pirithous' hold on her must be weakening," Annabeth said.

"We have to stop this wedding. How fast can we get to Garden of the Hesperides?" I asked. The three of us exchanged blank looks. Hylla's soft voice broke the silence.

"Actually, I may have a way…"

**AN: I always update thinking "Oh, this chapter is gonna be super long!" And it's not... and I feel bad. But I keep coming up on good cliffhangers and I like them. Oh well. **

**Also, check out my profile for a great new website (The Grown Up YA) brought to you by yours truly! I've been working on a book review site for those of you who may be interested. I hope you'll all check it out and join in the fun, following and commenting to help validate my work. Thanks in advance!**


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